


Barely Functioning, Deeply Loved

by BlueRowley



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Harry Potter Has a Sibling, Severitus | Severus Snape is Harry Potter's Parent, Severus Snape Has a Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:33:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28931805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueRowley/pseuds/BlueRowley
Summary: When six-year-old Harry Potter finds floo powder while cleaning the fireplace, he is accidentally sent over to Severus's Snape's house, where he discovers that Snape is his biological dad, he has a half-sister, and Aunt Petunia has been abusing him all his life. It's almost too much for little Harry to handle. Can Severus help his boy heal from the traumas he's suffered?
Comments: 49
Kudos: 180





	1. Chapter 1

Harry laid out the drop cloths on the floor in front of the fireplace and on the furniture nearby. Aunt Petunia had taught him how to clean the fireplace when he was four years old—that was two years ago, and since it was now being used every night during the cold winter months, he had to clean it on a weekly basis. And he was not to get a single speck of soot on anything but himself.

When Aunt Petunia had first told him what to do, he had been a bit frightened at first at the idea. He was terrified he would get stuck in the tight-fitting chimney. But he quickly discovered he was plenty small enough, and Aunt Petunia said she made sure to limit his meals even now so he could remain small enough to crawl up the chimney. She called him her personal “little chimney sweep,” and she said it in a way she spoke to Dudley most of the time, and Harry craved to please her just to hear his own term of endearment that he had finally earned from his aunt.

So, once again, Harry made sure everything was clean and that all his cleaning tools were ready. He grabbed the brush and scraper first and pushed his step ladder into the fireplace. He took off his glasses and set them down next to the fireplace. Climbing to the top step, he reached up and pulled himself up through the throat of the chimney, grabbing on to the dampers and pulling himself onto the smoke shelf. When he was four, he needed Aunt Petunia’s help getting into the chimney, but he prided himself on being able to get in on his own now.

Once he was on the smoke shelf, he gave it a good scrub. He couldn’t see anything save for the light at the top of the chimney, but he could feel everything very well, and he could tell when most of the soot had broken off. He coughed into his elbow after briefly.

Now, to shimmy up the flue.

The first few times he did this, he had bloodied himself up. Now, he had a good strategy that only left him with scraped hands, elbows, and knees. He had to be careful not to tuck his knees too close to his body or arch his back too much or else he might get stuck. He was getting bigger, and he had asked Aunt Petunia what he should do if he did get stuck, and she had warned him that if he ever did get stuck, she would leave him there. So he vowed to do his best to never let himself get stuck in the flue.

Harry began crawling his way up the chimney, using his brush as he went along, only using the scraper on the hard bits of soot that did not dislodge with his brush. Soot and grime fell over him, falling to the shelf below. Harry only paused for a few seconds to cough harshly, a slight wheeze emitting from his throat. It took a long time to slowly make his way to the top, where his bag was waiting for him. He pushed his tools out of the chimney and grabbed the bag.

Then, he let himself fall.

When Aunt Petunia had first instructed him to drop back down, he did so straight as a pencil, and crashed to the hard smoke shelf and injured his leg in the process. It took him even longer to crawl back out that time. But the second time he did it, something amazing happened. His falling slowed down just as he was about to hit the shelf, and he landed lightly on his feet.

It was freakish stuff, but he decided not to tell Aunt Petunia about it. If he was going to stay in his Aunt’s good books and be her little chimney sweep, he would have to keep this bit of freakish nature to himself. Besides, it worked to his advantage.

Harry felt his fall slowing down and he landed light as a feather on his feet on the shelf. He used his hands to grab all the soot that had fallen to the shelf (and all over him) and shoved it in the bag. He held the bag in one hand and began his long climb back up. Once a sweep got over the throat and to the shelf, there was only one way out—up.

Finally, Harry made it to the top of the chimney, and he crawled out, coughing soot everywhere. He carefully stepped along the roof over to the ladder Aunt Petunia set out for him before she left for her hair appointment with Dudley. Harry threw the bag to the grass below, then threw his tools down. He carefully stepped down the ladder.

Once he was on the ground, he dusted himself off as much as he could.

He was covered in soot from head to toe. This did not bother him much. He was normally a little dirty from all the chimney cleaning anyway. Aunt Petunia only let him bathe after a chimney cleaning since he was dirtiest then, but his baths had to be shorter than ten minutes. It did not offer a lot of time to get all the soot off that built up again and again over the weeks.

He took note of his hands and feet. They were bleeding slightly, as were his elbows, but he brushed off his wounds.

Harry ran back into the house with the brush and scraper, leaving the bag of soot outside. Aunt Petunia added the soot to her bags of fertilizer and compost for her gardens, which Harry would tend to later. He had to finish the chimney right now.

As he entered the house, he saw Aunt Petunia hanging her purse in the closet and helping Dudley take off his coat. She looked at Harry.

There’s my little chimney sweep,” Aunt Petunia cooed.

Harry smiled brightly at her as he walked over to the chimney, setting the tools in the bucket.

“And not a mark on my furniture,” she continued, walking over to Harry. She patted the air above Harry’s head, keeping her hand away from the filthy hair. “Good boy. Make sure it’s spotless for our fire tonight or there will be no supper. And you’ll lose five minutes on your bath time.”

“Yes, Aunt Petunia.”

“And don’t get any of your filth on anything. You know Uncle Vernon doesn’t like a dirty couch. Oh, what am I saying, you know what you’re doing—you’re such a hard working boy, you are. I’ll leave you to it.”

“Okay, Aunt Petunia,” Harry smiled even more, the praise making him feel warm inside. Harry put his glasses back on and crawled into the fireplace and set to scooping out the soot and ash in the into his bucket. Dudley was already jumping on the couch’s drop covers and turning the television on for the cartoons while Aunt Petunia brought him his lunch. 

Harry’s stomach growled but he ignored it. He didn’t get lunches. Three meals a day was a big no-no for chimney sweeps. He had to stay slim. He only got a small breakfast and sometimes dinner. But Aunt Petunia told him it was necessary—who else would ever be able to clean her chimney? Harry had to be her hero, and he went hungry many nights for the sake of being that hero. It was something—love, affection, care—something! And Harry craved every bit of those moments Aunt Petunia talked sweetly to him, or even dared to pat his head once.

Harry focused on his cleaning, making sure to get every bit of soot and ash out of the fireplace. As he scooped up some ash from the back of the fireplace, he realized this ash had a strange look to it. It was like white powder with a bit of a sparkle to it. Dumping it in his bucket, he looked down at it.

He had never seen ash sparkle in all his days cleaning the chimney. It was the strangest thing, and he reached his hand out to it slowly.

Grabbing a handful of it, he let it sprinkle out into his other hand, watching it shimmer as it did so. He frowned, taking a pinch out of his handful and blowing a big puff of breath at it.

The powder flew into the air, sprinkling down to the ground.

Then, the fireplace swallowed him.

Harry screamed. It felt like he was falling through the air as millions of fireplaces flashed before his eyes. He landed harshly on the ground as he was spat out of a fireplace.

Jumping to his feet, his eyes darted around. He was in a strange pub like place and many people were staring at him with confused looks. Some of the people were very large men with intimidating scowls and thick arms.

Harry slowly backed into the fireplace once more. Someone was approaching him. He looked down at his hand to see the powder still in his fist. Wishing for the best and hoping it would take him someplace safe, he threw the powder down, watching it poof around him and glitter.

The fireplace swallowed him again just as someone tried to grab him.

He was freefalling once more, past millions of fireplaces. Harry was starting to feel sick and his breathing was picking up, his throat closing uncomfortably. He squeezed his eyes shut and whined, “Just take me home, please!”

And suddenly, the world stopped, and the fireplace spat him out once more. Harry fell to the ground, his heart pounding in his throat and his breathing jagged.

He looked up and found himself nose to nose with a stick. Holding the stick was a little redhead girl about his age in a pink butterfly top and jeans. She was standing over him, her dark brown eyes glaring at him.

“Who are you?” she demanded. “What are you doing here?”

Harry couldn’t talk though. He couldn’t breathe. He struggled to suck air in through his throat, panting and wheezing heavy. He reached up and clutched at his neck as if it might help.

“Hey, breathe,” the girl said, lowering the stick and sitting next to Harry, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out.”

Harry tried to copy her, but it was really hard. She stood up and ran off somewhere before coming back with a glass of water.

“Here, maybe this will help.”

Harry took a couple sips, and the cold water did seem to soothe his burning throat, but it still took him a couple minutes before he could breathe normally again. He was shaking, and his eyes burned with tears as he finally calmed down and took a moment to look around.

“Oh good,” the girl said, sitting down in front of Harry. “A dead body would be hard to explain to my dad. Even I couldn’t talk my way out of that one. What’s all over you? I got it all over my hand.” The girl brushed her hand off on her jeans to little effect. 

Harry frowned at her, but his eyes wandered around the house. It was a large living space with a couch and two armchairs surrounding the fireplace. He glanced to his right, taking note of the attached dining room and open concept kitchen. 4 Privet Drive could easily fit inside this place alone, and he couldn’t even see the rest of the house. To his left, was a staircase.

“Where am I?”

“Err . . . Snape Manor?” the girl looked confused. “I take it you were playing with the floo powder and accidentally shipped yourself here. Is that it?”

“What?” Harry asked. “No! I was cleaning the chimney and then I saw this strange stuff and it took me all over the place.”

“That’s floo powder.” The girl nodded before peering closely at Harry. “You look familiar.”

“I do?”

The girl leaned closer to Harry, who leaned back anxiously. The girl brushed some of Harry’s hair aside and her eyes widened.

“You’re Harry!” she said excitedly.

“Yeah . . . how do you know my name?”

“You’re my brother!”

Harry blinked, then slowly shook his head. No, that wasn’t possible. His parents were dead and the only family he had left were the Dursleys. He had to get back to them. This girl was starting to freak him out.

“Yes, it’s true. Well, half-brother. I’m Iris.”

“Hi, Iris,” Harry said. He looked down at his hand, but there was no powder left to escape. “How do I get home? Do you have anymore powder left?”

Iris seemed surprised by the question and her face fell considerably.

“You want to leave? But we just met. I’m your sister, don’t you want to get to know me?”

Harry stood up, Iris following his lead.

“You can’t be my sister—my parents died in a car accident. I’m an only child and I only have the Dursleys left and I need to go back. Aunt Petunia’s probably worried about me.”

“Your parents didn’t die in a car accident,” Iris said, twirling the stick in her hands. “But your dad was actually your adopted dad. Your real dad is still alive.”

“He was my real dad!” Harry argued, stomping his foot for emphasis. He may not have known them, but he knew he loved them.

“I meant,” Iris held her hands up defensively, “your biological dad. He’s my dad, too. He talks about you a lot.”

Harry frowned. Could it be true?

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

Iris’s face lit up and she smiled brightly at him.

“Follow me,” she said.

Iris ran through the living room and past the kitchen, Harry behind her. She carefully glanced around the hall they were in before she grabbed Harry’s wrist and pulled him into a study.

“This is Dad’s study,” she said, moving around the large desk that sat against the back wall in front of a window. She began digging through the desk while Harry looked around.

There were shelves of books and jars of strange things with labels here and there. A large bird cage with an attached stand that stretched out and ended in a hook just to the left side of the desk caught his attention. There were feathers at the bottom of the cage but no sign of a bird anywhere. A water and food dish had a place inside as well, but it looked untouched. Harry’s eyes fell on the desk.

Journals and strange, crinkly paper littered the desk, some books were open on it as well, with more feathers in a case where pencils and pens would normally go. Harry picked up one of the feathers and felt its softness before he spotted the picture frames.

One was of Iris in what looked like a school uniform—a plaid skirt and white top. She was leaning against a wooden fence and flowerpots were hanging on either side of her. She was smiling radiantly.

There was another picture of her hugging a tall, dark clothed man who was leaning down next to her, her arms tight around his neck. The ma was also smiling, and Harry knew it was the father Iris was talking about. Before he could pick up the frame and get a good look at the man, he saw one more picture frame on the desk and his heart nearly stopped.

It was a picture of himself.

Harry picked up the picture and stared. It really didn’t look like him at all. In the picture, he was sitting out by the garden, a small smile on his face as he looked up at what had to be a camera. What Harry found odd was the lack of tools around him—he always had his tools with him when he went out to the garden. And he his cheeks looked fuller than they actually were, and his hair was cleaner. His face also looked clean as well, which was a rare circumstance. And his clothes looked brighter rather than the dull appearance the usually had.

“This isn’t me,” Harry said, “it’s just some look alike.”

“It is, too, you,” Iris said. “Look at the scar.”

Harry looked back at the frame and his eyes widened at his trademark scar.

“And there’s more where that came from,” Iris said, closing a drawer and dropping several pictures on the desk.

Harry was shocked. There were many pictures of him at different stages of his life. First, as a young baby. He picked that one up: it was the first time he had ever seen his mother. She had red hair just like Iris, but green eyes like his. She was staring down admirably at the little curly haired baby in her arms. Another picture was still him as a baby, but both parents were present. He looked a lot like his father, how could this girl claim that anyone else could be his father?

And there were so many more pictures. Words were scribed on the back: Harry’s first steps, his first food, his first swing set, his first Halloween and Christmas, his first birthday, and then those photos stopped. There were no more words on the back. The rest were just pictures with no backstory.

A young toddler Harry sitting near a Christmas tree looking up in awe. Harry frowned, he was never allowed to go near or touch the tree, but when everyone was asleep, he had always snuck out of his cupboard to get a good look.

Another picture saw him picking flowers in the garden as a three-year old. Harry vaguely remembered that. It was Mother’s Day, and Dudley and Uncle Vernon had brought flowers for Aunt Petunia. Little Harry had wanted to do the same, but it only resulted in Aunt Petunia screaming at him for murdering her beautiful garden and he had been tossed in his cupboard and locked in for the rest of the night.

There was another one where Harry was off to school. He was smiling next to Dudley. That picture had more truth to it, as it was more for show in Aunt Petunia’s case. She made sure to take several more of just Dudley in front of the school.

And the pictures continued up until the most recent one in the frame on the desk. Harry was more confused and slightly frightened.

“Who took all of these?”

“My dad’s boss,” Iris said. “Dad just wanted to know how you were doing. He wanted to watch you grow up. It was going fine before when Lily and James would bring you over to visit. They made him your second godfather you know.”

“Lily and James?”

“Your parents.”

“No one ever told me there names before.” Harry picked up a picture that had his parents and him as a baby in it.

“Really? That’s strange. Dad says he misses not being able to have those visits anymore, but he said its all for the best that you’re with your relatives. I never agreed, but I’m not allowed to tell anyone that you’re my brother, so . . .”

“But how can I be your brother when I look just like my dad.”

“You look like James because of some spell I think. Adoption spell or whatever.”

“A spell?”

“Yeah. You know . . . magic.”

“Now, I know you’re lying.” Harry pointed an accusatory finger at Iris. “Magic isn’t real! Your dad isn’t my dad!”

“Yes, he is and magic is too real.” Iris held out the stick she had been carrying and pointed it at him. “I can prove it.”

“That’s just a stick!”

“Oh yeah?” Iris flicked it and Harry couldn’t help but flinch at the movement.

Bubbles erupted from the end of the stick and danced all around him, glowing different colors before they popped.

“See, magic.”

Harry watched the bubbles as they continued popping, their colors flashing around him. He blinked and frowned at the stick.

“This is a wand,” Iris said proudly. “It’s what a witch or wizard uses to make magic. Has anything strange ever happened around you before? You know, like things moving on their own or your hair changing color?”

Harry knew several instances where strange, freakish things had occurred around him. But he wouldn’t call those things magic. That was just him being a freak.

“Not really,” he said.

“Come on, there’s gotta be something.”

“Well, I made all my hair grow back when Aunt Petunia shaved it all off one time.”

“Aha. See? You have magic. And you probably do it a lot more than you think. Kids make a lot of accidental magic. We don’t mean to, but we can’t help it either. Our core is still growing and releases itself sometimes.”

“Even with a wand?” Harry asked, pointing at the stick in Iris’s hand.

“Well . . .” Iris looked at her wand and twirled it. She licked her lips before saying, “This isn’t a real wand. It’s a kid’s wand that shoots bubbles. But that’s still magic. The bubbles change colors and all and it can even make music.”

“But it’s fake,” Harry pouted. He knew it was all too good to be true. She was just a lying girl.

“No, it’s not. It’s fun and it’s magic. Follow me.”

Iris led the way to the kitchen, Harry still holding on to the picture of his parents. She pointed up at the top cabinet where glassware was settled.

“I’m going to get a glass down. Watch.”

Iris stared intently the cabinets, her face scrunching in concentration. Harry watched for a few seconds before crossing his arms and glaring at Iris. Iris huffed in frustration, glanced at Harry, then focused on the cabinet again. Her fists clenched at her sides and her brows furrowed more.

“Come on . . .” she growled under her breath. 

Suddenly, a glass slid across the paper slider in the cabinet. Harry lowered his arms and watched surprised as the glass slid again, closer to the edge of the cabinet this time. It clanked against the door.

“Wow,” Harry said. “You’re doing that?”

Iris smirked but didn’t answer. She kept staring at the glass that was tapping against the cabinet door’s glass. She flexed and clenched her fists again, willing the door to open and for the glass to come to her. Suddenly, the cabinet doors flew open and all the glassware came crashing down on the two kids, shattering, and sending shards flying through the air.

Harry and Iris screamed.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs and they came running for the kitchen. An older, plump lady in a strange dress-like costume burst into the kitchen, another stick, no, a wand, in her hand and at the ready.

“What happened?” she shouted. “Oh dear, Iris, are you okay? Don’t move, you might cut yourself. Oh . . .”

The woman stared at Harry for a minute, blinking at him.

“Hello, dear,” she said. “Who are you?”

“This is Harry,” Iris said, brushing glass off herself and wincing at the scratches on her arms. “He accidentally came over here in the floo.”

Harry hid the picture behind his back, afraid this woman might take it away from him.

“Harry.” Iris smiled at him as she gestured to the woman. “This is Addie. She’s my nanny.”

“Hi,” Harry offered a small wave.

Addie waved back before flicking her wand at the mess on the floor and it all vanished.

“Come kids,” she motioned for them to come to her. “Let me look you over and get you all cleaned up. Then, I’m calling your father, Iris.”

Iris huffed but walked over to Addie. Harry hesitated. Would this man actually claim to be his father as well? He didn’t really want to meet this mystery man. He was confused, and the only life he had ever known was trapped in a fireplace somewhere. He glanced down at the picture of his parents. His family was gone. He only had the Dursleys left. And he had to get back to them.

“Come, dear,” Addie said, waving him forward once more. “I want to make sure you’ve got no glass in you.”

“Come on, Harry,” Iris encouraged.

Harry followed Iris and Addie out of the kitchen and to a large bathroom, keeping just behind the two. Addie said something strange as she swished her wand and a small, silvery meerkat appeared and sat on its hind legs and listened. Harry watched fascinated.

“Severus Snape, there has been an incident with Iris, and you are needed home urgently,” Addie told the meerkat. She shooed it away. “Run along.”

The meerkat darted away and vanished through the bathroom wall.

Addie turned her attention on the two kids sitting on the edge of the tub. 

She looked over Iris first.

“What happened in there?” she asked as she began using her wand to carefully pull pieces of glass out of Iris’s arm.

“I was showing Harry that magic is real,” Iris said, hissing as a rather large piece was pulled from her bicep. “He didn’t believe me, so I was trying to make a glass come down to me but instead all the glasses came.”

“I’ve told you not to try to encourage your magic, it is unpredictable at your age. Occasional accidents are one thing, but purposely trying to create disaster . . .”

“I wasn’t trying to create disaster. Just get a glass.”

“You’re going to give me more grey hairs on my head, young lady.”

“Your hair is already grey.”

“Well, it’s going white!”

Harry sat in silence, staring down at his picture. He listened to the two talk while wondering what the fastest way might be out of the house before this Severus Snape character arrived. These people were strange. If Aunt Petunia were here, she’d have a lot to say about these freaky things happening. But Addie and Iris treated it like it was an everyday occurrence.

“Looks like that’s all of them,” Addie said, giving Iris one last look over. “Your father will have something more for it, I’m sure.”

“Can’t you just put some healing salve on it or something? Did you have to call him?”

“You know he likes to be told when you get injured. And this isn’t a scraped knee, young lady, you were playing around with your magic again and broke several of his dishes. And . . .” Addie jerked her head toward Harry.

Harry didn’t move. Addie kneeled in front of him and smiled.

“Hello, dearie,” she said, gently taking his wrist and pulling his arm out to look over. “I’m going to make sure you haven’t any glass in your skin. My wand will pull any out if you do, but you’ll hardly feel it. Anywhere hurt in particular?”

Harry shrugged. Nowhere on him hurt. Addie tsked at the small pieces of glass her wand managed to find and pull out of his arms. Addie glanced at his legs, then looked at Harry’s back and gasped. Harry looked tried to look at his back too but couldn’t see anything. Iris swung her head around and her eyes widened at the large piece of a wine glass stem embedded into Harry’s shoulder.

“Bloody hell,” Iris said, “you didn’t feel that?”

“Language, Iris!” Addie snapped as she studied the glass in Harry’s shoulder. She hovered her wand over it while she had an internal debate on what the right move might be here. 

Footsteps came running down the hall and into the bathroom.

A tall man in a black dress-like material stopped in the doorway, his shoulder length black hair a bit frazzled.

“What happened? Is Iris all right? Do we need a healer? Is there . . .”

The man trailed off as his eyes fell on Harry and he stared for a long, intense minute. 


	2. Meeting Severus Snape

Severus could not take his eyes off the young boy sitting on the edge of the bathtub.

"Nothing like that, Severus," Addie waved him off, snapping him out of his stupor. She patted Harry's uninjured shoulder. "Just some glass wounds. But I'm afraid this one has a particularly deep piece in his shoulder.

Severus blinked and shook his head before entering the bathroom. He glanced at Iris before kneeling in front of Harry, taking Addie's place. He slowly reached up and gently stroked a thumb along Harry's cheek, then looked at the black smear he managed to rub off.

"What is this?" Severus asked, wiping his hand on his robe. "You look like a chimney sweep."

Hearing a familiar term, Harry perked up and smiled.

"I am," he said.

"What?" Severus asked as an uneasy laugh escaped his lips.

"A chimney sweep," Harry explained. "Like you said."

"You know what that is?"

Harry nodded.

"And you actually climb up the chimney to clean it."

"Aunt Petunia says I'm the only one who could ever do it for her. She needs me. I have to go home and finish it."

Severus looked back at Addie, who had a look of horror on her face, her jaw slack. The two shared a look before Severus turned back to Harry. He carefully looked at Harry's hands and elbows, taking note of the small cuts along his arms before turning his attention to the glass impaled in his shoulder. Severus pulled out his wand and cast a numbing spell and another spell to cut away the thin shirt. He felt along Harry's skin where the glass pierced.

"Doesn't feel like it's too deep," Severus muttered. "Wouldn't have struck a nerve or artery. But it is going to hurt. Harry, I need you to take several deep breaths for me, all right? Can you do that for me?"

Harry took a deep breath in and out.

"Keep going," Severus said, "I'll tell you when to stop."

Harry kept going, not entirely sure why he had to take deep breaths.

"Nice and slow. Breath in. Hold. Breath out. Slowly."

Harry did it again. And again. This was strange, but nothing about today seemed normal. As he slowly released another breath, a sharp and sudden pain shot down his arm and forced a quick intake of breath again. He held it for a few seconds as his mind processed what happened. Then he let out a soft, "owwww," before crying softly as he reached back to rub his shoulder.

Severus had moved quickly and used his wand to slip the glass out of Harry's shoulder as the boy let out a breath. He was not surprised when Harry started crying, but he felt sympathetic for the child as he set the glass down.

"I'm sorry," Severus said, patting the boy's other shoulder. "I know that must have really hurt but you were very brave for it. I'm going to put a healing salve on it for you, okay? It won't hurt anymore."

Harry was still crying and only nodded at Severus's words. Anything to make the pain go away. Then he was leaving for sure.

Severus summoned a container and then rubbed a generous amount of the salve over the wound on Harry's back. This salve also had antimicrobial properties. Once Severus finished that, he fixed Harry's shirt with the swish of his wand and moved to do the boy's arms. As he rubbed the salve on the many small cuts, the white salve turned grey as it mixed with the soot and his hands turned black as he rubbed the boy's arms.

"You are in desperate need of a bath," Severus said.

"I get one tonight," Harry said.

"I would hope so. When were you cleaning a chimney?"

"Today. I do it weekly in the winter months. It has to get done or the house will get cold."

"You do it weekly?" Severus finished with Harry's arms and washed his hands before moving to Iris and looking her over before giving her the same treatment. "How long have you been doing this?"

"Umm . . ." Harry frowned in thought. "Since I was four."

"Four years old?" Severus stopped what he was doing and stared at Harry. He shook his head as he finished rubbing the salve on her arms. "Unbelievable," he muttered.

"I'm good at it," Harry said, sensing something off in Severus's tone. "Really good."

Severus didn't say anything as he closed the salve and gave his daughter one last look over. Harry swallowed dryly as he looked back down at his picture.

"I have to go back and finish or Aunt Petunia won't be happy. Do you have any more powder?"

"Powder?" Severus asked, raising a brow at Harry.

"He means floo powder," Iris said. "That's how he got here."

"There was floo powder in your fireplace?" Severus asked.

Harry nodded.

"Interesting," Severus said as he stood up and closed his salve, sending it flying back to his lab.

Harry watched in awe.

"How did you do that?" Harry asked. He looked at his arms. "And I'm all better. Can I get some to take home?"

"We'll see," Severus said, leaning against the bathroom sink. "First, I'd like you to take a bath."

"I get one tonight. After I finish the fireplace."

"I'd rather you take one now."

"But then I'll just get all dirty again."

"You're not cleaning anymore fireplaces," Severus said, frowning now.

"I have to!" Harry said, standing up and stomping his feet. "I have to finish the job or Aunt Petunia won't be happy."

"Calm down. I'm not sending you back there tonight. I need to think some things through."

"You can't keep me here!" Harry cried, his eyes watering up. He stomped his foot again. "Take me home now! Aunt Petunia needs me. She's going to miss me and she doesn't even know what happened to me and now I'm stuck here. You have to take me back. Please. She's going to lock me in my cupboard if I don't go back right now. Take me home. You have to take me home."

Harry felt his throat closing up on him and he started wheezing as he pleaded with Severus. He choked slightly on the last sentence and reached a hand up to his throat. His chest tightened on him.

"I can't breathe," Harry wheezed, tears trailing down his cheeks.

Severus was on his knees in front of Harry instantly.

"Hey, take it easy," he said. "Deep breaths. Nice and slow. Breath with me, deep breath in. Deep breath out. Come on, sit down. I've got you. Slow deep breaths."

Harry found himself sitting next to Severus on the bathroom floor. He tried to listen to the man and take deep breaths but it was hard to get air down his hurting throat. It was like he was breathing through a straw and he coughed and nearly choked.

"Relax," Severus said, patting his back. "Slow deep breaths."

Addie handed something to Severus, and he accepted it, giving it a quick shake.

"Unfortunately, I don't have an inhaler, but you can sip this," Severus said, holding a small vial to Harry's lips. "It'll have the same effect."

Harry took a tiny sip of whatever the man was offering, but he felt like he was going to sick up and he swallowed quickly and turned away.

"That's yucky!"

"You need a little more than that."

"I don't want it! You're poisoning me." Harry started crying again, coughing once more, but Severus held the vial to his lips again.

"I am not. It is medicine for you. It's not going to taste good. Another sip. Please? For me?"

Harry's lower lip trembled but he bravely took another sip of the disgusting medicine. He never had medicine before, but Dudley always fought Aunt Petunia when he had to take it, so maybe it was this disgusting. He managed a good swallow this time, and the effects were nearly instant.

His throat opened back up and his chest relaxed. Harry breathed easier and leaned against Severus exhausted.

"He did that earlier," Iris said, pointing at Harry. "When he came through the floo."

"Same thing?" Severus asked her.

Iris nodded. "I gave him some water."

"That was very good of you," Severus praised. He gently rubbed Harry's arm. "Do you have an inhaler at home?"

Harry shook his head.

"No? But you have asthma, don't you?"

Harry shook his head.

"Hmm," Severus commented, giving Harry's arm another rub. "I see."

Harry wasn't sure what to think of Severus now. The man made his throat stop hurting and he was rubbing his arm. No one had ever done something like that before. Aunt Petunia had always told him to cough somewhere else whenever he went through something like that, and she would never touch him for longer than a few seconds. It was strange. This house was very strange.

"Ladies," Severus said, "may we have the bathroom?"

Addie nodded and ushered Iris out with a hand on her shoulder.

"Why did you ask them to leave?" Harry asked.

"So, you can take your bath."

"I have to finish the fireplace."

"I'll finish it for you. Today is your rest day."

"I don't get a rest day."

"Well, this will be your first. Then you'll be able to clean a thousand chimneys in no time."

"Really?"

"After a bath, of course."

Harry looked at the bathtub and nodded. He could do that. And it was genuinely nice of Severus to finish cleaning the fireplace for him so he could rest. But what would Aunt Petunia say? He should go make sure it was okay with her first.

"I have to ask Aunt Petunia if it's okay first."

"I already spoke with her. She said yes."

"Oh. Really? I'm not getting locked in my cupboard?"

"No." Severus's eyes flashed mysteriously, but Harry hardly noticed.

"Okay." Harry agreed.

Severus helped the child up and began running a bath for the boy, making sure it wasn't too hot. He set out a towel for him and added bubbles to the water, much to Harry' delight.

"I never have bubbles!" Harry clapped.

"Well, enjoy them for as long as you want." Severus turned off the water once it was full and looked at Harry. "Do you know how to take a bath?"

Harry nodded.

"Okay. You get in and soak up and I'm going to find you some clothes, all right? I'll check in on you in a few minutes."

"Okay." Harry took off his glasses and set them on the counter.

Severus picked up the picture off the floor.

"No, I want that!" Harry suddenly cried, reaching for the picture. "It's all I have of my parents now."

"Relax," Severus said. "I'll make you a copy. It's all I have too, you know."

"Oh," Harry said, looking down at his feet. Now he was being selfish. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. Get in the tub. I'll be back with some clothes for you."

Severus left Harry in the bathroom, shutting the door behind him and moving to his study. He picked up the other pictures thrown on his desk and set them back in his drawer. He paused as he stared at the one of Lily holding a baby Harry. Her son truly did look like her. And James. And himself at that. He frowned as he put the picture away and stared at the framed photo on his desk. The child in his bathroom did not look like this healthy boy in the photo.

For the first time, the thought that the photos of his child were manipulated crossed his mind, and he felt his heart twist. He should have checked up on Harry himself. He shouldn't have trusted the headmaster unquestionably when they decided to leave Harry with his relatives, hoping he would have the best chance at happiness there.

His decision on that had not been an easy one. When Lily and James had been murdered, he had been going through the grief of losing a very close friend, as well as a breakup with his girlfriend at the time, and a custody battle that quickly followed. He did not believe he would be able to care for two toddlers on his own, and he accepted Albus Dumbledore's idea of leaving Harry at another blood relatives. Albus had agreed to secretly capture some pictures of Harry when he could for Severus.

And now, the truth was too much for him. His son was a chimney sweep. How could Petunia stoop so low as to bring back an archaic torture? With his child nonetheless. He knew he had some explaining to do to Harry, and all in good time. Right now, he had to clean the boy up and feed him.

And somehow convince him to stay. He wasn't sure why Harry thought going back to his aunt was at all a good idea. Perhaps there was some kind of attachment he was missing. He could dwell on that later. He should find the boy some clothes. Severus set the picture frame down and glanced up. He nearly had a heart attack at the sight of Harry standing in his doorway wrapped in a towel.

"What are you doing?" Severus asked.

"I'm all done."

"You're done?" Severus looked at a clock in his study. "It's been less than five minutes."

"I only have ten minutes."

Severus snorted.

"Son, we're going to need a lot more than ten minutes to clean you up." Severus sighed and walked around his desk and over to Harry. "Come on. Let's go take a real bath, all right?"

Harry tilted his head but followed Severus back to the bathroom. He watched as Severus refilled the tub and added more bubbles to it, checking the heat of the water as he waited for it to finish filling. Once the tub was ready, Severus rolled up his sleeves and sat on the edge of the tub.

"In you go."

"But I'm all done."

"Not quite. Come on, get in."

Harry slowly stepped in the tub, allowing Severus to take the towel from him as he did. He frowned as he sat down in the water, watching Severus pick up a bar of soap and lather up a washcloth. Then, he began gently scrubbing Harry's shoulders and back. Harry could never reach back there, so he usually just focused on what he could reach. It felt kind of nice having someone rub his back for him. He looked up at Severus and asked:

"Are you my real dad?"

Severus hesitated, meeting Harry's eyes before saying, "Yes."

"What about . . . err James?"

"He is your real dad, too. He blood adopted you as a baby."

"What's that mean?"

"It's an old ritual. You two shared blood and that is why you have some of his looks. You also have your mother's eyes, and some of my looks. I quite like it actually."

Severus moved on to Harry's arms, scrubbing as rough as he was willing to while remaining gentle.

"Were you married to my mummy?"

"No. We were very close friends, though. I loved her very much. But she was also falling in love with James at the same time she was with me. After our . . . little fling, she decided James was the one, and we agreed that we would let James blood adopt our baby—you—and I would be your godfather, so I could still see you. At that time, I was also falling in love more with Dahlia, Iris's mother."

"Are you married?"

"No. Dahlia and I broke up a few years ago."

"Oh. So where's Dahlia?"

"At her own place. Iris visits her on a weekend once a month and on two holidays."

"Why?"

"Cause that's what we agreed on in court. Now, enough about me, how about you. Tell me about your . . . cupboard."

"I'm not supposed to talk about it."

"Why not?"

Harry shrugged as he lifted a leg slightly while Severus scrubbed away at it.

"Okay, how about chimney sweeping? Do you enjoy that?"

"It's hard but it makes Aunt Petunia happy, so I like it."

"Do you?" Severus mused, as he tickled Harry's feet slightly with the washcloth, earning a small laugh. "What else do you like to do?"

"I can garden!" Harry exclaimed, sitting up slightly as Severus gently wiped at his face. "That's fun, but sometimes I get really dirty and have to be hosed off before I go back inside. Oh, and I love making breakfast! I make the best scrambled eggs. And I keep the kitchen real clean too, no mess at all."

"Well, I can't wait to try some of these scrambled eggs of yours." Severus said as he set the washcloth aside and picked up the shampoo bottle. He squirted a generous amount in his hands and rubbed them together before lathering Harry's messy curls up. "What about school? Do you like that?"

"Sometimes. But I'm not supposed to."

"Not supposed to like school?"

"I'm not supposed to be better than Dudley. Besides, school's no fun. Dudley chases me around and won't let anyone be my friend."

"I see." Severus carefully rinsed Harry's hair by scooping water up and brushing it through Harry's hair.

"If you're my daddy, why don't I live with you?"

"I was in a rough place when your parents died," Severus answered honestly, as he scooped up more water to rinse the suds off Harry's body. "I did not think I could handle two little toddlers and my own grief at the same time. And I thought you would be safe with your relatives. Spoiled, even."

"I'm safe."

"Hmm," was Severus's only response.

"Can I come visit?"

"Visit?" Severus frowned.

"Yeah. I like Iris. She's cool. And you're my dad, so I should visit."

"I think you'll do more than visit, but we don't have to talk about that now." Severus wiped his hands on the towel Harry had and stood up. "Enjoy the bath for a few minutes while I go get you some clothes."

Harry nodded and Severus left the bathroom. He walked up the stairs to his daughter's room and grabbed a pair of her pajamas and underwear. Harry looked very similar in size to Iris, and he could always resize them if needed. He turned the pick butterflies into green dinosaurs and walked back down the stairs. Pausing in the kitchen to see what Addie and Iris were up to.

"We're making dinner, Daddy," Iris announced as she helped Addie add more potatoes to the pot, standing on her tiptoes on the step stool. "Are you staying tonight or going back to work?"

"I think Hogwarts can wait," Severus said, placing a hand on top of her daughter's head. She stared up at him with a big grin and Severus gave her forehead a quick kiss. "Lean back away from the stove, sweetie. Addie, a word?"

Severus and Addie stepped just outside the kitchen doorway where they could see Iris but kept their voices down.

"About Harry . . ."

"He's not going back to those awful relatives," Addie interrupted. "A chimney sweep? In all my years, why, I've never . . ."

"I know," Severus said. "He's not going back. I'm going to have to take this to muggle court, however. But how do I say how he ended up here? He fell out of my fireplace?"

"Say he ran away."

"He wants to go back."

"Really?" Addie made a face at that.

"He speaks rather highly of "Aunt Petunia." I think he believes she loves him; despite everything she's done to him."

"Well," Addie peered into the kitchen at Iris. "she's all he's ever known. Just stick with the running away by accident story. Maybe he was chimney sweeping, had an asthma attack and was confused and wandered off and you picked him up off the street during a business trip. That might work. Then he told you how he was treated, and you just couldn't let that go. I would get the police involved sooner rather than later."

"Dammit, I should have taken a picture."

"Do you know how to take a picture from a memory?"

"That's brilliant. You'll have to show me. I need to get back to Harry and you need to make sure we have a little soup with our potatoes."

Addie looked back in the kitchen to see Iris throwing more cut up potatoes in the pot.

"Iris, I said no more," she scolded as she went back to the stove.

Severus smirked, then moved down the hall back to the bathroom. He saw Harry playing with the bubbles in the bath, giving himself a beard and giggling. Severus snorted before entering, startling Harry, who slapped the bubbles away and waited patiently.

"You're more than welcome to play with the bubbles," Severus said. He grabbed a clean towel and held it open for Harry. "I think you've been in there long enough. Out with you."

Harry stood and allowed Severus to wrap him in the towel, then lift him out of the bath and onto the fuzzy bathmat.

"Much better," Severus said, brushing some stray hairs out of Harry's face.

"I've never been this clean before," Harry said, putting his glasses back on and looking down at himself. "No one's every given me a bath before."

"No?"

Harry shook his head.

"Do you think Aunt Petunia will hug me now that I'm really clean? She doesn't like dirt."

Severus sighed at that and decided not to answer. He handed the fresh clothes over to Harry.

"Dry off and get dressed, okay, honey? Then I think dinner will be ready."

"When do I go back?"

"Not now. Remember, it's your rest day."

Harry accepted that answer and began drying himself off. Severus let Harry be and rejoined the ladies in the kitchen to see where he could help. He was quickly shooed out, however, so he went back to his study, remembering he would make a copy of the picture Harry liked so much. He duplicated the picture with a charm then shoved it in an inner robe pocket. Pausing outside the bathroom door, he knocked.

"Harry? Do you need any help?"

The door opened and Harry jumped out with a roar.

"Oh my," Severus smiled. "I've created a little monster."

"I'm a dinosaur," Harry said. He held out the edge of his shirt. "See."

Severus pulled the hem out of Harry's hands and flattened it out, adjusting the pajamas on Harry. He was quite pleased Harry liked them so much.

"I'm sorry," Harry suddenly said, looking contrite, his head lowered, and his lower lip puckered out. "I shouldn't have tried to scare you like that."

"You were playing," Severus said, summoning a comb and combing out Harry's hair. "It's what kids do."

"Aunt Petunia said I shouldn't play like that. It's a waste of what could be good work."

"You're not working here," Severus said. He pulled at some knots, surprised at how messy Harry's hair actually was. And how long it was. "You need a trim."

"No one's ever combed my hair before," Harry said. He patted his hair when Severus was done. "You made it flat. It looks like yours now."

"It's curling back up," Severus said. "I don't believe there's much taming of those. Come on. Dinner is ready."

It was hard convincing Harry to eat any more than three bites of his soup and a bite of his salad. Addie, who would normally leave before dinner was served, decided to stay until the police arrived, who Severus had called right before sitting down to eat. He watched Harry mostly, his own food forgotten until Iris took it upon herself to scold him for not eating his vegetables.

After dinner, Iris showed Harry around the manor, running upstairs and downstairs to show off rooms in a random order, both kids laughing all the while. Severus took the chance to capture a picture from his memory of Harry covered in soot with Addie's help, then he turned one of the guest rooms into Harry's new bedroom, painting the walls blue and putting dinosaur bedsheets on the full-size bed.

The police arrived just as he finished with the bedroom, and Severus showed them the picture and shared the story Addie had come up with earlier, Addie piping in as a witness. Harry was called down and the boy obediently answered the officer's questions about chimney sweeping, and he even went into great detail about how he did it and how often. Harry even said that he wasn't allowed to eat much because he had to stay small enough to fit up the chimney. He sounded proud of himself. When asked about the cupboard, he once again said he wasn't allowed to talk about it.

With that, the police had enough information, and when Severus explained he was Harry's godfather and provided the paper proof, they allowed Harry to stay with him while the situation was sorted out.

When that was finished, the two kids went back to exploring the house, Iris excitedly showing off every inch of her pink room.

Finally, eight o'clock rolled around and Severus captured both kids, throwing them over his shoulders. They squealed and shrieked in his ears, but he was quite used to the volume. He settled Iris in her bed first, giving her a kiss goodnight and turning out the light.

He set Harry down at the doorway of his new bedroom.

"Well, what do you think?"

"It's so cool." Harry ran in the room and stopped short of the bed. "This is where I will stay?"

"It's your room," Severus said, picking Harry up and putting him on the bed.

"Oh, I'm not supposed to be—"

"Rest day," Severus reminded. "Remember? It's your room and this is your bed."

"My room?" Harry looked down at the blanket, then grinned and crawled down to the big dinosaur on his blanket. "Look, T-rex."

"Very good," Severus commented, sitting on the edge of the bed. He helped Harry get under the blanket, the young boy yawning as he curled up before his eyes widened and he sat up.

"I have to take the garbage out. And clean up after dinner. And make sure to lock the front door."

"Relax," Severus said, pushing Harry back down. "You're not at your relatives. Besides, Addie's already taken care of all that. You're tired. Go to sleep."

"I've never slept in a bed like this before," Harry said, rubbing his eyes.

"Then enjoy it," Severus encouraged.

"When am I going back?"

"I don't think you'll be going back."

"Why not?" Aunt Petunia will miss me."

"Miss you?" Severus stroked a thumb across Harry's cheek. "Honey, she made you crawl up a chimney. And it's making you sick."

"I have to. No one else can clean it. She needs me."

Severus sighed, staring down sadly at Harry.

"We'll talk in the morning about this, kiddo," Severus said. He leaned down and gave Harry a kiss on his temple. "Go to sleep."

Harry blinked up at him with a smile before closing his eyes. Severus set the copy of the photo he made and set it on the nightstand next to the bed. He walked out of the room quietly, closing the door behind him. He paused outside the bedroom door, leaning back against it and staring at the ceiling. All those photos of a happy, healthy, little boy flooded his mind, and he now knew how much of those were definitely fake. Or at the least, manipulated. He closed his eyes as he sank down to the floor, resting an arm over a knee and staring at the opposite wall.

Severus didn't know how to feel about it all—how to feel about Albus messing with the photos he secretly collected; how to feel about Petunia abusing her son; how to feel about the floo powder in a muggle fireplace; or how to feel about his failure as a father to Harry. He should have checked in on Harry himself, despite Albus's wishes to keep away. He didn't understand Albus's ulterior motives, but the logic seemed sound: Harry was settled in at his relatives and doing well. That had been fine to live with until Harry showed up in his house.

A chimney sweep. Of all the things in the world, his poor child was subjected to that. He ran a hand through his hair, tugging at the ends. He wasn't ready to add another child into his life. He struggled enough as it was with Iris and the problems her mother presented. He would have to make it happen, though. There was no way he was sending Harry back to those wretched people. He was the only family Harry had left now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm working a bunch of stories, but this plot has been bugging me for two years and I just can't ignore it anymore. So here it is!


	3. You're Not Leaving

Severus had still been awake when Harry began coughing in his sleep. He had been just about to ready himself for bed when Harry’s dry, wheezy cough started up. Severus almost went to the boy immediately, but he stopped himself and decided to take note. He listened to Harry’s struggle for nearly thirty minutes, mentally reminding himself of how it sounded and how it persisted. The wheezing only worsened and Severus finally broke and headed to Harry’s room.

Harry was lying down under the covers in a poor attempt to muffle his coughing. Severus pulled the blanket back and gathered Harry in his arms, patting the boy’s back while he carried him downstairs.

He set Harry down on the kitchen counter and summoned the potion he had given Harry earlier. 

“I don’t want medicine,” Harry said with a pout before coughing again.

“I know,” Severus said. “But you need it.”

“No,” Harry argued. “Aunt Petunia just gives me a lot of cough drops and sometimes tea. She says if that doesn’t help then I can croak.”

Severus’s eyes widened at that, and he was glad Harry was busy coughing into his hands to take note of his expression. Petunia had actually told Harry that to his face? By the way Harry nonchalantly said it, the young child clearly did not understand the implication. Severus sighed and waited until Harry looked back up at him.

“Can I just have cough drops?” Harry asked. “They help.”

“I highly doubt that,” Severus said. He held the vial close to Harry’s lips. “Drink a sip for me.”

“No,” Harry turned his head away.

“You need it.”

“No. I need cough drops.”

“I do not want to stand here all night arguing with you. So let’s save us both the trouble and take the potion.”

“Potion?” Harry asked, frowning at the vial. “Like magic?”

“Yes. It is exactly like magic.”

Harry hesitated. It wasn’t medicine but instead a potion. That was fascinating. Severus held the vial closer and Harry slowly allowed Severus to give him a sip. As soon as the taste hit Harry’s tongue, he swung his head away and gagged. Magic or not, it did not taste good. 

“You better have swallowed that,” Severus said, watching Harry closely.

“It’s yuck!” Harry cried, though he did manage to swallow the potion. He gladly accepted the glass of warm milk from Severus and sipped it gratefully.

“It will help you,” Severus said. Harry’s cough was all ready gone.

“I hate potions,” Harry said, his lower lip trembling.

“Cry it out to the potions master,” Severus muttered as he sent the vial flying back to his lab. He leaned against the counter as he watched Harry finish his milk, folding his arms. “Harry, you might have to take medicine every day. You can’t fight with me every time, you know.”

“I don’t need medicine,” Harry said, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

“Hmm,” Severus said, smiling softly at Harry. He picked Harry up, the child’s arms instinctively wrapping around his neck, then, he carried Harry back up the stairs. “I disagree. It can’t be pleasant coughing all night.”

“I can take cough drops,” Harry said. “The yummy kinds.”

“You can have those if you want,” Severus said, walking into Harry’s bedroom and lying Harry down on the bed. “But you might also have to take medicine. And that’s final.”

Harry nodded and yawned into his pillow, his eyes already closed. Severus snorted and tucked the boy in.

The next morning, Severus had dressed in muggle wear and made some quick phone calls and then floo called Albus Dumbledore to cancel his Friday classes. When Albus questioned the action, he had informed Albus that Iris wasn’t feeling well, and the headmaster accepted the excuse. Severus wasn’t ready to deal with the odd pictures Albus had taken for him over the years or to know what the man’s involvement was with Harry’s upbringing thus far.

Now that everything was taken care of, he had to wake his two children.

Harry staying with him had not been a hard decision to make. He still didn’t feel ready to raise two kids, but he knew he wouldn’t allow anyone else to have his son. He made the mistake of giving him up once, he would not make that same mistake again. Severus left his study and made his way to the kitchen, pausing when he saw Harry standing on the step stool and stirring eggs on the stove. Harry spotted him and smiled.

“Good morning,” Harry said softly.

“Morning,” Severus returned, standing behind Harry as he ruffled the boy’s hair, looking over his son’s shoulder. “I see you’re making those famous scrambled eggs you were talking about yesterday.”

“Is Addie coming over?” Harry asked, reaching for the carton of eggs. “Should I make more?”

“What you have is more than enough for two,” Severus said. “Addie eats breakfast with her family. And next time, please ask me before coming down to make breakfast. Can we agree on that?”

“Two?” Harry asked. “But there’s three . . .” 

“Iris does not like eggs,” Severus said.

“I’m sorry—I can make her something else!” Harry said, climbing off the step stool and running for the fridge, only for Severus to stop him with a gentle arm grab. Severus kneeled next to him.

“Iris will be content with cereal this morning,” Severus said. “She likes to pour it herself. Now, did you hear what I said about making breakfast?”

“To ask you first?” Harry said, looking down at his feet.

“Yes. Let me know when you are awake and ask me if you can make breakfast, all right?”

“Okay,” Harry said in a miserable tone. “But I always make breakfast. How am I supposed to ask you when I’m at Aunt Petunia’s?”

Severus wanted to tell Harry what he had been informed that morning, but he knew now was not the time. They had a long list of things to do that day and he did not want to start his day with a tantrum. He released Harry and said:

“When you are here, ask first.”

Harry nodded and went back to the stove to make sure his eggs weren’t burning.

Severus watched him for a moment, only looking away when Iris padded into the kitchen, yawning and rubbing her eyes.

“Morning, Daddy,” Iris said. In half-awake movements, she opened the pantry and grabbed a box of cereal. Severus set a bowl down for her and she poured the cereal. Severus added the milk and then Iris shuffled over to the dining table and sat down to eat.

Harry had watched the exchange with interest. There was no whining, no yelling, no barking orders, and no complaining. It was strange. He was so focused on watching Severus and Iris he forgot to keep an eye on the eggs. Smoke quickly filled the kitchen. Harry jumped, then turned off the heat. He tried to remove the eggs quickly from the hot pan to a plate, but nearly burned himself in the process, and he dropped the pan with a loud clang to the floor, startling Iris awake.

“I’m sorry,” Harry cried as Severus walked over to the mess, “I’m sorry. I’ll do them again.”

“It’s okay,” Severus said, swishing his wand to clean the mess. The eggs vanished and the pan flew to the sink and began washing itself. “It was an accident.”

“But I ruined your breakfast.”

“You didn’t ruin anything. I can always make something myself. How about you sit down and have a bowl of cereal?”

“I can’t. I have to remake your breakfast first.”

Severus thought about his next words carefully. It seemed Harry was used to following orders and always placing himself last. It angered him internally that someone could be so demeaning to a small child, but he swallowed that down and decided on a new tactic.

“I don’t want you to,” he said, surprising Harry. “I want you to hold this bowl.”

Severus handed Harry a bowl, and the child was quick to obey and accept the bowl, waiting expectantly for his next orders.

Severus grabbed the box Iris had pulled out and poured cereal into the bowl before splashing in the milk.

“There. Go sit down and eat.”

Harry was frozen to the spot, unsure if he had heard that correctly.

“Go on.” Severus motioned to the table.

Harry slowly made his way to the table and sat down next to Iris, who smiled at him. He smiled shyly back before taking a small bite of the food. Severus sighed. At this rate, it was going to be a long day.

After both kids had eaten and were dressed with Harry in some of Iris’s more tomboyish clothes, Severus helped the kids into their winter coats (Harry borrowing Iris’s blue one while she wore her pink one) before leading them outside of the house.

This was Harry’s first look outside the house. The manor was huge, a wide, two-story building with a neat garden in the front and acres of land in the back. Harry could see a few houses scattered around them, but it was clear he was in the countryside now. Iris skipped ahead while Severus locked his door, Harry lingering near him.

“Where are we going?” Harry asked. “Are you taking me home?”

“No,” Severus shook his head. When he noticed Harry’s face morphing into a pout that threatened to escalate into a tantrum, Severus quickly said, “Not yet. We have a few errands we need to do.”

“Like what?” Harry complained, but followed Severus down the steps. “I want to go home.”

Severus didn’t answer. He led Harry to the Ford Escort in the driveway. Iris was already pulling on the door trying to get in. Severus unlocked the car and Iris climbed into her booster car seat. Severus used his wand to duplicate Iris’s car seat and with practiced ease, he strapped it to the seat behind the driver’s side. Once he was sure it was secure, he waved Harry over to him.

“I’m not allowed in the car,” Harry said.

“You’re allowed in this one.”

Severus picked Harry up and settled him in the seat. He buckled Harry in before doing the same for Iris.

Severus started the car and slowly pulled out of his driveway. He had taught himself to drive soon after winning custody of Iris. It was a safer way of travel through muggle areas than side-along apparition was, and it gave Iris a chance to embrace the muggle world and its developing technology, as well himself. And now, it would give Harry that same advantage.

“You’re going to like our doctor,” Iris started talking as they drove down the road. “He’s the best in the whole world!”

“We’re going to the doctor?” Harry asked nervously.

Severus silently scolded Iris in his head, but he knew she had not meant to upset Harry. He had been hoping for a quiet ride to the doctor’s, but what could one expect with two six-year-olds?

“I don’t want to go to the doctor,” Harry said.

“We need to get your asthma under control,” Severus said. He adjusted the rear-view mirror so he could see Harry in it, alternating between watching the road and watching Harry’s reaction.

“I don’t have asthma.”

“I disagree.”

“I don’t like doctors.”

“Ours is nice,” Iris said, smiling at Harry. “He gives me lollies every time I see him. And he’s also a wizard. Shhh!” Iris put a finger to her lips and shushed Harry as if she had just revealed a big secret.

“I don’t want to go!” Harry said louder. He kicked the seat in front of him. “I want to go home.”

“Harry.” Severus eyed Harry in the mirror, meeting his son’s eyes. “Do not kick my seat.”

The stern voice sent shivers down Harry’s back, and he lowered his head, peering up at Severus through his bangs. At that Severus reangled his mirror and focused on the road. It was a quiet ride the rest of the way, Iris swinging her feet and Harry sulking out the window. They arrived at the muggle office and Iris jumped out of her seat and waited for her father impatiently while he helped Harry figure out where the seatbelt connected to. Once Harry was free, they walked into the reception area. Iris led Harry over to the play area while Severus checked them in.

When a nurse called the kids in, Severus took their hands and walked them after her. Iris pulled free to be weighed and measured first, while Harry needed prying away from Severus. After temperatures and blood pressures were taken, they waited for the doctor in an exam room. Iris jumped up on the table while Harry decided to take the chair next to Severus, leaning against him.

“May I ask what is wrong about the doctor’s office?” Severus questioned.

“I don’t like it. They poke me and stab me with needles and I never get a treat like Dudley.”

“We’re getting a needle?” Iris cried, covering her arms protectively.

“No,” Severus answered, wrapping an arm around Harry. “No one is getting a needle today. Harry, I don’t know everything you’ve been through, but our doctor is very nice. He will look you over and hopefully prescribe some medicine for you.”

“More medicine?” Harry’s lower lip trembled.

“It’s to help you,” Severus said. “That’s all I’m trying to do.”

After fifteen minutes, Doctor Villin finally entered.

“Wow, look how much you’ve grown, Iris!” He said cheerily, walking up to the table. “What happened to the baby girl that barely fit in my hands?”

“I’m a grown up, now,” Iris said, sitting tall on the table.

“I see,” Doctor Villin smiled. “Too grown up for a lolli?”

Iris shook her head as she accepted the candy Doctor Villin held out to her. Doctor Villin turned his attention on Harry.

“Now, I believe the appointment was made for you, young man,” he said. “What’s your name?”

Harry turned his face into Severus’s shirt, who rested a hand on Harry’s back.

“I’m sorry,” Severus said, “I do not believe he’s had any good hospital experience. This is Harry.”

“Hello, Harry,” Doctor Villin said, sitting down in the chair across from them and pulling it toward Severus and Harry. “I’m not going to do anything to you that you won’t like. I just want to make sure you’re healthy. Would you like to see me perform some tests on your sister?”

Harry peeked out at the doctor, who quickly used the opportunity to flick his wand at Iris, sending shimmering gold swirls that wrapped around Iris before vanishing. A parchment appeared in the air next to Iris, who grabbed it and held it out for Doctor Villin helpfully.

“Thank you, Iris,” he said, then glanced it over. “Looks like you are perfectly healthy, as is to be expected. Now your turn Harry. What do you say?”

It didn’t look so bad. Harry bravely sat up and closed his eyes. He nodded.

Doctor Villin didn’t comment on the frightened look, Harry had. He flicked his wand and waited a few seconds before the parchment appeared. He read the notes, tsking at what he saw. Severus frowned, holding his tongue and forcing himself to be patient while he waited for the doctor’s analysis.

“Very interesting,” Doctor Villin said.

“What is it?” Severus couldn’t help himself.

“Well, from what you’ve told me about the situation, everything here fits the scenario. I’ll give you a muggle report for the case. He’s severely malnourished, slightly dehydrated, and his growth has been stunted a bit. He has quite a few deficiencies, vitamin A, B12, iron, calcium—as I said, I’ll give you the report. He’ll definitely need to start on some daily vitamins for a while along with beginning a healthier diet. I’d also like you to make sure he’s drinking plenty of milk and water. I’m going to send you the recipe for a nutrient potion that meets his needs. Now, what’s this I hear about asthma?”

“Nothing,” Harry muttered, hiding his face back into Severus’s robe.

Severus picked Harry up and stood him in between his knees so he was facing Doctor Villin, who summoned a strange, ruler like object. He attached a mouthpiece to it, then held it out for Harry.

“This is a peak flow meter,” Doctor Villin said. “What I’d like you to do is put your mouth around here, like this.” Doctor Villin demonstrated, then swished a cleansing spell on the device before holding it back out. “Then, you’re going to blow really fast into it as hard as you can. Okay? Let’s practice. Take a deep breath.”

Harry took a deep breath.

“Now let it out really fast.”

Harry did so, and the doctor nodded.

“Good. Again, but on the meter this time.”

Harry took a deep breath and carefully put the mouthpiece in his mouth, then tried his best to blow fast on it. He ended up coughing and he pulled away from the meter, wheezing slightly from the effort. Severus gently rubbed his back.

“Eighty-seven liters per minute,” the doctor said, reading the meter. He moved closer to show Severus what he was looking at. “His normal should be in the one-twenty to one-forty range. It’s a nifty little muggle device, great for keeping track of his breathing. I’m going to let you keep this one, I’ll get you the manual.”

Harry leaned back against Severus as the two adults talked about inhalers and prescriptions and when to use what and how often. It was a lot of information and Harry didn’t like how many times the word “potion” or “medicine” came up. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, spotting Iris sucking on the lollipop she had been given and playing with the blood pressure cuffs. Finally, the doctor was handing a few scripts to Severus and a small baggie with two inhalers in it.

“These should get you through until you get your scripts in. This one is the quick relief, not unlike the potion you were giving Harry yesterday. This one is his long-term medication. He needs to take it twice daily; once in the morning and once at night. Let’s start with one puff and see how it helps him. Make sure you’re watching for any anaphylactic reactions when he starts this, and keep an eye out for any other adverse signs to the medicine. Would you like him to have his first dose now so in case any thing does happen, he is still within the hospital?”

“Yes, of course,” Severus said, worry now filling his chest.

The doctor helped Harry figure out how to hold the pump and correctly place it in his mouth, Severus watching closely. Harry took a deep breath in before coughing and pushing the inhaler away.

“It’s weird for the first timers,” the doctor said, but he’ll get used to it. He may need some assistance for a while until he is able to take it on his own every day when he should.”

Severus could already see the many future battles he was going to have with Harry. He sighed and nodded his head, taking the inhaler back and putting it in the bag.

“And for being such a brave boy.” Doctor Villin held out another lolli for Harry.

“For me?” Harry said, his eyes wide as he slowly reached for the lollipop. “Really?”

“Yes, for you. You did very good today.”

Harry looked at Severus, who nodded his head, then he smiled and accepted the lollipop.

“Thank you.” Harry said.

The small family left the hospital. Severus helped the kids back into their car seats before driving over to a small kid clothing store. There, he helped Harry try on several clothes, and allowed Harry to pick out what he liked, which was like pulling teeth.

“Harry, I don’t want to be here all day any more than you probably do,” Severus said. “But you need to help me out by picking what you like and not just agreeing to everything I grab. Do you actually like this shirt?” Severus held out a plaid shirt.

Harry shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said softly.

Severus set the shirt down and rubbed a hand through his hair. He hated shopping. Perhaps he should have Addie come back with Harry. After raising five kids and nannying several others, she would know how to engage with Harry more at the store and help him find what he liked.

“Daddy, can I have this?” Iris asked, running up to him with a pink tutu. “I need a new one for dance.”

“You have three new ones,” Severus frowned at her. “Put that back. We’re shopping for Harry, remember?”

“What about this?” Iris held up a frilly skirt.

“Iris, please,” Severus dragged a hand down his face. “Not now. Put those back.”

“Fine,” Iris complained. “Harry, I found a bunch of dinosaur hoodies—want to see?”

“Okay,” Harry agreed, running after Iris before Severus could scold them to stay close.

Intrigued by Iris’s remark, Severus followed the kids, pushing his cart along. He caught up to them running through the stands, looking at hoodies with big T-rexes and brachiosauruses and velociraptors. Harry kept running back to the one with T-rex on it, and Severus decided to find Harry’s size on the rack. The two kids found more dinosaur themed clothing and then monster truck themed shirts. Severus was happy to let Iris lead the way and picked up what he noticed Harry take interest in. This was not so bad after all.

Finally, Severus decided he had enough clothes to get Harry through winter at least. He paid for everything and put all the bags in the trunk while the two kids jumped in their car seats expectantly, Harry finally getting into the routine of car travel.

Once they were secured, Severus decided to make a quick stop at Iris’s school to inquire about enrolling Harry, hoping it was not too late. It was mid-January, and the staff were very excited to have Harry join the school and they would mail Severus the required paperwork and needed records he would have to send in. Severus hoped Harry was up to date on his vaccines. He would have to find out where Harry had gone previously for doctor visits.

When he was ready to leave, he found Iris in her classroom talking with her teacher, showing Harry off. All the students were on lunch now, so the classroom was empty. Severus paused outside the door, leaning against the frame as he listened to Iris.

“And after the doctor’s, we went shopping and found a lot of dinosaur things for him,” Iris was saying, Harry quietly standing beside her, his head slightly lowered. “He likes dinosaurs.”

“Is that so?” the teacher, Mrs. Hadewin said, smiling at Harry. “We’ll have a little paleontologist in our classroom, won’t we?”

Harry shrugged, but offered a small smile.

“He doesn’t talk much,” Iris explained. “Dad says he has to get comfortable around us, and I have to help him and show him everything’s not so bad—that’s why Dad let me stay home today.”

“Well, I am so proud of you for being such a good sister,” Mrs. Hadewin said. “I look forward to seeing you in class, Harry.”

Harry didn’t say anything, and Severus entered the classroom.

“Okay, you two, I think it’s time to head home,” Severus said.

“Aww,” Iris pouted.

“Would you like to stay for your afternoon classes?” Severus asked, raising a brow. “Or help me fix up Harry’s room?”

Iris frowned in thought, then said, “Fix up Harry’s room!”

“Then let’s head back to the car.”

As the two kids ran ahead, Mrs. Hadewin walked at Severus’s side.

“I am so sorry to hear what’s happened with Harry,” she said. “How did you find out he was your son?”

“DNA test,” Severus said, leaving out any more details than that.

“I read the paper this morning. The details were atrocious. His bedroom was a cupboard? And they made him a chimney sweep—my heart breaks just thinking about it. I wish you luck, Mr. Snape. And I do look forward to having little Harry in my class. I think he’ll do very well here.”

“Thank you,” Severus said. He bid farewell, then drove home.

He opened the trunk and used a spell to transport all the bags to Harry’s room and the new medications to his own bedroom to review later.

“Why are we back here?” Harry asked as he jumped out of the car.

“Because its where we live, silly,” Iris said, skipping over to him.

“No, it’s where you live. I live with my aunt and uncle. I have to go back to them.”

“Nuh-uh,” Iris said, shakingher head, her red hair flying about. “Daddy says you’re staying here now. You’re never leaving. Ever.”

Severus had just shut the trunk when he heard Iris declare the truth. He winced, waiting for Harry’s reaction to that.

“No!” Harry shouted at her. “I have to leave. This isn’t my house. I want to go home.” Harry ran to the back of the car and looked up at Severus. “I want to go back home. Take me back.”

Severus sighed, and kneeled in front of Harry. He might as well as tell the child.

“Harry,” he began gently. “Your aunt and uncle were arrested this morning on several accounts of child neglect, abuse, and endangerment. They are behind bars without bail while they wait for their trial. Your cousin is living with an aunt and you are staying with us. That’s the end of it.”

Harry blinked back tears.

“Why were they arrested?”

“Because what they did to you—how they treated you was wrong.”

“No, it wasn’t. Aunt Petunia loves me. She never hurt me.”

“I disagree. Making a child climb up a chimney is dangerous and illegal. You could have been killed.”

“I was careful.”

“She denied you food—”

“No, she fed me.”

“She made you a slave to her family—”

“No, she didn’t.”

“And she did not report you missing when you mysteriously “vanished.” And your uncle allowed all of this.”

“You can’t keep me here! I want to go home.” Harry stomped his foot.

“Unfortunately, you have nowhere else to go. Your relatives are behind bars and we have a trial to get through. It would really help me if you tried to understand why what they did was wrong.”

“They didn’t do anything. Take them out of jail.”

“That’s beyond my control, Harry,” Severus said, standing up and throwing his hands up.

“Then I’m taking them out of jail,” Harry declared before running off down the driveway.

“Harry!” Severus shouted, running after him. He grabbed Harry before he could run into the street, lifting him up and carrying him back to the house.

“No!” Harry screamed, kicking all the way. “I don’t want to stay. I want Aunt Petunia! I want to go home. I want Aunt Petunia!”

It was hard to hear. Severus set Harry down in the house before he shut and locked the door with a spell that wouldn’t allow Harry to open the door. Harry pushed past him and tried to open the door before screaming and pounding on it. Severus quickly and wordlessly spelled every window and outside door to the house locked, sadly watching Harry throw himself to the floor, kicking and crying, yelling about not wanting to stay and missing Aunt Petunia. And he knew that “Aunt Petunia” did not miss Harry. Noted in the muggle paper that morning, Aunt Petunia’s words about her nephew missing had been “good riddance.”


	4. Take Me Home

Harry slowly calmed down after nearly twenty minutes of throwing a fit on the floor. He took several deep breaths as he looked around. The house was very quiet now that he wasn’t screaming. He turned his head to the left, spotting Severus sitting on the couch watching him. Harry rubbed his eyes as he stared back. If he had done something like that in front of Aunt Petunia, he would have long ago been locked in his cupboard. All this man was doing was staring at him.

“Are you quite done?” Severus asked, raising a brow at him.

Harry shook his head.

“No?” Severus stood up and walked over to Harry. “And what exactly do you hope to accomplish?”

“I want to go home,” Harry said sadly. “I don’t want to stay here forever.”

“You have nowhere else to go,” Severus countered. “Your relatives are in jail now—they can’t take care of you.”

“Take em out,” Harry argued.

Severus sighed, then kneeled next to Harry.

“Harry,” Severus said, waiting for the child’s attention. “You had rules at your relatives, right?”

Harry nodded.

“And if you didn’t follow those rules, you were—I’m assuming—punished, correct?”

Harry nodded again.

“Well, Britain has rules, too, and in order to live here, you have to follow those rules, or you’ll be punished, even if you’re an adult. Your relatives broke many rules, so they have to spend some time in jail, just as you might have to spend time in time out.”

“You mean my cupboard?” Harry asked.

“Hmm,” Severus said, standing back up. “If that was your time out, then yes.”

“I don’t want them in jail.”

“I know, but I don’t make the laws. We all have to follow them and when we don’t, we get in trouble for it.”

“They didn’t do anything, though. They’re good, normal people.”

Severus frowned at Harry’s phrasing.

“Normal,” Severus repeated.

“Yeah, they don’t make freaky things happen.”

“You mean like this?” Severus waved his hand over Harry and the child slowly began floating up. Harry gasped, startled, but he was lowered back down to the floor gently. Harry smiled up at Severus as he sat up.

“Yeah, like that!”

“That is called magic,” Severus said. “And it’s far from freaky. It’s normal for wizards and witches. Some muggles simply do not understand it.”

“What are muggles?”

“People without magic.”

“Like me?”

“No.” Severus shook his head, summoning a picture from his study. He held it out for Harry, who accepted it and stared at the picture. It was of his parents again: Lily and James touching their wands together, and then a silvery stag and doe pranced out of their wands, spun around in the air and landed in front of the couple, touching noses. The picture repeated the scene again and again. Harry awed at it.

“Your parents had magic,” Severus said. “As do you.”

Harry’s head snapped up. “Really?”

“Really. It’s not freaky. It can be exceptionally beautiful, actually.”

Harry stared at the picture, touching it gently. “Can I keep it?”

“You may have that one,” Severus said. “Why don’t you go put it up in your room?’

“I want to take it home with me,” Harry said.

Severus bit his tongue in frustration. He had thought he had been doing well with their conversation. Harry was quite stubborn—he wondered whose genes that boy got that from. Severus had been hoping to work on decorating Harry’s walls and reorganizing the bedroom in a more kid friendly manner, but at this rate, he may end up doing that tomorrow. He still had to make lunch for the kids as well.

“This is your home, now, Harry,” Severus said. “I suggest you start accepting that.”

The reaction was immediate. Harry’s face morphed into a pout and he threw himself back down and kicked his feet.

“I want to go home!” Harry cried.

Severus sighed and walked away from Harry this time. The truth would settle in soon enough for Harry and then he would adjust to a normal life as a kid and not a house elf to an awful family. Severus decided to check with Iris on what she might like for lunch. He headed upstairs and knocked on Iris’s bedroom door.

“Iris?” Severus said, opening the door and peeking inside.   
Iris was sitting on her bed, hugging her knees and crying softly.

“Honey,” Severus said, coming into the room and sitting on the edge of her bed. He wrapped an arm around her, and she snuggled against him. “What’s wrong?”

“Harry doesn’t like me,” she cried.

“That’s not true,” Severus rubbed her back soothingly. “He likes you very much. He thinks your cool.”

Iris looked up at her father.

“Really?” she asked.

“Mmhmm,” Severus agreed. “He told me himself. And you were very helpful today. He barely left your side. I think your making him feel more at home.”

“Why doesn’t he want to stay then?”

Severus sighed as he leaned back on the bedframe.

“He’s just confused. His family wasn’t very nice to him. They made him believe he had no where else to go and that he had to stay with them. They lied to him, and he thinks that he’s wanted there.”

“But he’s not,” Iris said, “right?”

“Right. We have to show him how much he’s wanted here. And you’ve been doing a very good job at that. So you keep doing what you’re doing. Think you can do that?”

Iris nodded and smiled.

“Thank you.” Severus kissed his daughter’s cheek before standing up. “Any ideas for lunch?”

* * *

Harry stared up at the ceiling. In all the times he had seen Dudley throw a tantrum, Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernon were fawning over him and catering to his every need. He had been so sure it would work on Severus, but instead, the man had left the room completely this time. Harry wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do now.

Standing up, Harry walked toward the staircase he had seen Severus walk up. He paused as he watched Severus walking back down them.

“You can’t keep me here,” Harry said as Severus stepped down the last stair.

“I disagree,” Severus said. “I am legally your godfather, not to mention your father, and I have every intention of obtaining full custody of you.”

“I don’t want you to,” Harry pouted. “Aunt Petunia will miss me. She loves me.”

Severus did not comment on that. He made his way to the kitchen, opening the fridge and grabbing a few things. Harry was not paying much attention to what Severus was doing.

“Please, take me home,” Harry tried, softly, using a look he had seen Iris use on Severus to win an extra biscuit. He widened his eyes and puckered his lower lip.

“I see you’re taking lessons from Iris,” Severus muttered. “Unfortunately, given the severity of the circumstance, that’s not going to work.”

Harry frowned.

Iris skipped into the kitchen at the moment and Severus handed her a sandwich.

“Thank you, Daddy,” she smiled, taking a bite happily. “Can Harry and I play outside later?”

“Not today,” Severus said.

“Why not?” Harry asked, pouting once more.

“I’m sure you could give me a reason why yourself,” Severus said. He handed Harry a sandwich.

Harry took it and stared at it. Aunt Petunia rarely gave him sandwiches, and when she did, it had cheese on it only. This sandwich had a strange filling and a slice of lettuce trapped between two slices of bread. Iris was happily eating hers while watching Harry.

“Try it,” she said. “You’ll like it.”

“What is it?” Harry asked.

“Ham salad,” Severus answered, turning, and watching Harry.

Harry took a small careful bite, chewing slowly.

“It’s good,” Harry said.

“See?” Iris smiled. “I told you he’d like it.”

“So you did,” Severus agreed, taking a sandwich for himself. “Sit at the table please. I would like you to eat at least half of your sandwich.”

Harry stared at the sandwich in his hands. That was impossible. He would never be able to eat it half of it. He was being set up to fail.

“I can’t,” Harry said.

“I’d like you to try,” Severus said. “If you can’t, then that’s okay. But at least try.”

Harry took another small bite as he sat down next to Iris at the table, setting his picture down. What if he couldn’t wat a quarter and Severus decided to punish him for it? Aunt Petunia sometimes gave him impossible tasks but never with trying to eat so much food. As far as food went, she was usually happy when he didn’t finish all the food she gave him. This family was still very strange.

Severus watched Harry chew the small bite he had taken. He knew it would be a long time before Harry would ever be able to eat a normal sized meal, but he wanted the child to at least start trying. That evening, he planned to brew the nutrient potion the doctor had written up for him, and he wanted Harry to start it first thing in the morning. He was sure it would go down very well with Harry.

By the time Harry had managed to eat six small bites and a quarter of the sandwich, he handed it back to Severus and fearfully stepped away. Severus wrapped the sandwich up and set it in the fridge.

“If you get hungry later,” Severus said, “you may have more of that as a snack.”

Harry wanted to protest that he wouldn’t be here to have it as a snack and that Severus had to take him home, but Severus had already moved out of the kitchen. Iris was finishing her juice, so Harry followed Severus, catching up to the man as he sat behind the desk.

“I want to go home,” Harry said, leaning against the desk.

“So you’ve said.” Severus gathered a pile of essays in front of him and picked up his red-inked quill. “Unless you’d like to work on your room now, I have work I could do.”

“I’m not leaving till you take me home.” Harry plopped down on the floor at Severus’s feet.

“Then you can sit there until bedtime,” Severus said. His eyes scanned the parchment for a few seconds before he began scribbling on it.

Harry pouted, glaring up at Severus.

“I’ll scream,” Harry threatened.

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” Severus said. He pointed up. “You’ll scare the owl.”

Harry looked up and gasped.

On the bird stand that stretched for the desk, was a large eagle owl. It adjusted itself on the stand as it checked out the newcomer to the family with piercing orange eyes. Harry stood up and backed away from the desk.

“He won’t hurt you,” Severus said. “But he won’t like it if you scream.”

“I won’t scream,” Harry said.

“Wise decision.” Severus set his quill down and steepled his fingers, giving Harry his full attention. “You had a busy morning, why don’t you rest a bit for the afternoon?”

Harry wanted to protest it, but he looked at the owl and then back at Severus. He lowered his head and shuffled out of the study quickly. It wasn’t fair. He was trapped in a stranger’s house, even if the stranger was his father that he never knew about. What was he supposed to do now? All the doors and windows were locked and he couldn’t seem to make them unlock no matter which way he turned the latches. Maybe Iris knew of a way out of the house.

Harry walked back out to the dining room, but Iris wasn’t there. He moved through the living room, wondering if he’d find her in her room. Halfway through the room, he stopped and eyed the fireplace.

He stared for a long moment, then glanced around the room. He listened for any noise from the study or the stairs. Everything was quiet. Harry moved closer to the fireplace, ducking to stand inside of it as he looked up. The throat looked narrow, but he was sure he could crawl through it. He reached up but his fingers grazed where he needed to grab on to. He ducked out of the fireplace and looked around.

Remembering the step stool in the kitchen, he quietly tiptoed there and grabbed the step stool, dragging it into the fireplace. Kicking off his shoes and socks, he climbed to the top step and grabbed the ledge, pulling himself up and over the throat and onto the smoke shelf.

Standing up, Harry realized this chimney was a tighter fit than Aunt Petunia’s, but he could still crawl his way out if he kept himself as straight as possible. He began pulling himself forward, crawling slowly and meticulously. The flue was very clean by chimney standards, informing Harry that someone did the cleaning. The small amounts of soot there was did sprinkle over him, and halfway up the flue he paused to cough harshly.

Finally, he made it to the top and crawled his way out of the chimney, his entire body covered in soot. He brushed himself off with little effect before looking at the ground below. It was a long way down, and he did not have a ladder waiting for him.

Harry sat on the roof as he thought about the times he let himself fall in the chimney. Each time, he landed on his feet. He wondered if the same would happen if he jumped off the roof. The idea frightened him, and he stayed sitting on the roof for several minutes. If he didn’t get off the roof soon, he was sure he would be caught and he needed to get as far away from this house as possible. He would free Aunt Petunia from jail somehow and they would be a family again.

Harry stood up, hesitated, then leaped off the roof.

He slowed down just before hitting the ground and landed on his feet. He smiled, then ran down the driveway. He stopped at the end and looked right, then left, then right again. He didn’t know which way he was supposed to go, but he decided right seemed like the best choice. He began walking down the road, keeping close to the grass in case any cars drove by.

There were about seven houses he passed before acres of crop fields took over, and Harry wrapped his arms around himself as he kept moving, an icy feeling consuming his stomach. He had never been somewhere so secluded before. Even when he had been made to walk home there was at least a building or house in sight.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been walking, but it was getting cold and noises from the tall grasses startled him. He coughed into his sleeve, then paused when the wind rustled the trees in the distance, and he shivered. He had no clue where Aunt Petunia was or even how to get back home and now, he was in the middle of nowhere. It wasn’t fair.

Harry glanced back, but with no houses in sight, he sighed and resigned himself to keep moving. There was a loud crack and Harry jumped when he saw Severus standing in front of him, his arms crossed.

“Taking a little trip?” Severus asked.

“How did you get here?” Harry swung his head back and forth. 

“Apparition,” Severus said. “And looking at you, I’m assuming you got here by climbing out the chimney. I suppose I should have seen that coming.”

“I’m going home,” Harry declared, walking past Severus, and continuing down the road.

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Severus asked, following Harry.

“I don’t know. I’ll take a bus or a train or something.”

“Hmm. With what money?”

“I don’t need money. I’ll sneak on.”

“I see. And where do you plan on finding a bus or train?”

“In the city.”

“You mean the one twenty miles away from here?” Severus questioned. “You’ll be walking well into the night . . . in the dark . . . and the cold.”

Harry wanted to keep going, but he was quite frightened about walking in the dark alone. His eyes watered just thinking about it and his heart picked up speed. Maybe Severus would walk with him until they found a bus or train. He had to keep going if he ever wanted to see Aunt Petunia again, but he really didn’t want a monster to jump out and attack him.

“Besides,” Severus added, “you’re walking the wrong way.”

At that, Harry plopped down on the ground and the tears escaped his eyes. He cried softly into his hands. He was already tired from his long escape and now he had to walk back the other way and he just wanted to go home. Severus sighed and kneeled in front of him, using a thumb to wipe a tear trailing down Harry’s cheek.

“I’m sorry, honey,” Severus said softly, “but you know I can’t leave you out here. I know you miss Aunt Petunia, but what she did wasn’t very nice.”

“She’s always nice to me.” Harry sniffled. 

“I know you see it that way, and I’m trying to help you understand why what she did was wrong, but you have to stop and listen to me first.”

“She’s all I have.”

“Not anymore. You have me now. And Iris.”

“I don’t want you. I don’t know you.”

“I know. I’d like you to get to know me. And I you. Come, let’s go back. It’s getting late. And you need another bath again.”

“I’m tired,” Harry said. He coughed and shivered. “And cold.”

“Do you want me to carry you?”

“I’m all dirty.”

“That’s nothing to be concerned about.” Severus picked Harry up and carried him on his hip. Harry rested his head against Severus’s shoulder, trapping his hands between himself and Severus’s chest.

“Aunt Petunia won’t let me near her if I’m dirty.”

“No? But I’d bet she’d hug and hold her own son even if he were dirty.”

“Yeah, but Dudley’s her son. I’m not.”

“That should not matter. Now, hold on to me. This might feel weird.”

Severus disapparated and reappeared in front of his house. He walked up the driveway, Harry still in his arms coughing slightly. Severus patted his back.

“What if someone had stopped you on the way, hmm? Or tried to take you?”

“I’d tell them you kidnapped me.”

Severus chuckled at that as he opened the front door.

“Looking at us, they might just believe it.”

“You found him!” Iris cheered as she ran up to her father.

Addie was there as well, and she let out a relieved breath. She frowned at the soot covering Harry and shook her head softly.

“He’s okay,” Severus said, “but very tired. I think an early bedtime would be agreeable, don’t you?”

Harry nodded, his eyes blinking repeatedly. Severus smiled and brushed some hair out of Harry’s face.

“After a quick bath.”

Harry nodded again.

“I’m glad he’s okay,” Addie said. “I’m going to get dinner ready so he can have a little something before bed.”

Severus whispered something to Addie so softly that Harry could not hear it despite having his head on Severus’s shoulder. Addie agreed to whatever he said and led Iris to the kitchen to be her little helper. Severus carried Harry up the stairs and to the bathroom, where he set Harry down on the toilet seat. A bath was quickly drawn, and Severus helped Harry soak and scrub since the poor child was falling asleep against the rim.

Once Harry was clean again, Severus helped the child into pajamas and then carried Harry to his bedroom, forcing the child to sit up and lean against him.

“I’m really tired,” Harry said.

“As running away will do to young children,” Severus said, summoning a vial and Harry’s inhaler. “I would appreciate it if you refrained from doing so in the future. It’s a lot of hills and empty roads out here, you could get lost very easily. Then how would I ever find you?”

“I just want Aunt Petunia.”

“How about this? We can arrange some visits with Aunt Petunia and then you won’t have to run away. Can we agree on that?”

“Really?” Harry’s eyes widened.

“Against my better judgement,” Severus said, “yes, really.”

“Okay.” Harry rested his head against Severus once more. “I would like that.”

“And no more chimney sweeping,” Severus said. “It’s not good for you, especially with your asthma. I do not want to worry about you getting trapped in there either.”

“I wouldn’t. I’m very good at it.” 

“Harry.” Severus gently held Harry’s chin and tilted the boy’s head up until their eyes locked. “I am very serious about that. Do not climb up my chimney again.”

“Okay,” Harry said. “I promise.”

“Thank you.” Severus held out the vial to Harry. “This is your nutrition potion that you will need to start taking at every meal until we get you back on track. Don’t worry, it tastes just like strawberries. You like strawberries, right?”

Harry nodded and accepted the potion and taking a tiny sip to make sure Severus was telling the truth. It did taste like strawberries and he finished the small vial. He handed it back to Severus, who then took the inhaler and helped Harry hold it correctly as the doctor had shown them. Harry sucked in a puff, coughing and pulling his head away.

Severus helped Harry under the covers and kissed Harry’s temple before killing the lights and shutting the door. Harry was asleep before he even got out of the room. Severus sighed and leaned against the door briefly. It was going to be a long, few weeks trying to get Harry to adjust. And now he had to throw in visits. He had spoken to his lawyer about the problems Harry was struggling with and the lawyer had managed to grant Harry permission to visit Petunia with the hope that Petunia might unleash her true inner feelings and Harry would get a harsh reality check.

Severus opposed of the idea, but after this bout of escapade, he wondered if it might be worth trying. He didn’t want Harry to send the jurors the wrong message by going on the stand and speaking highly of Petunia and avoiding questions. He still had yet to even explain to Harry what was going to happen. But the child did not make anything easy.

Rubbing a hand down his face, he made his way back downstairs and found Iris and Addie working together to make the fish and chips. Addie spotted him.

“I thought something easy tonight would do everyone good,” she said.

“Harry’s asleep,” Severus said. “I doubt he’ll wake up until morning.”

“The poor dear,” Addie said. “I charmed the fireplace for you. I can’t put a barricade on it as it might interfere with smoke ad carbon monoxide release, but there’s a spell that will alert you should he ever enter the fireplace again. For now, I would try to keep him away from it.”

“I’ll do my best,” Severus said. He leaned against the counter and shook his head. “I should have kept an eye on him. I should have known he would try that.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over it.”

Addie gave Iris dishes to set the table.

“Why did he run away?” Iris asked.

“He wants to see his relatives,” Severus answered, sitting at the head of the table.

“Why?” Iris asked, climbing on her dad’s lap. “They weren’t nice to him.”

“They pretended to be,” Severus said, wrapping his arms around her.

“That’s mean.” Iris crossed her arms and glared at the food set on the table.

“Thank you for coming over on such short notice,” Severus said to Addie.

“Of course, Severus.” Addie waved him off. “I’ll always be there if you need me. Now that you are all set, I’ll head back home. I’ll see you on Monday, missy.”

“Bye, Addie Bell!” Iris smiled, waving to her.

“Bye, Iris Snape,” Addie smirked at her teasingly. “Goodnight.”

“Daddy,” Iris asked when Addie floo’d away. “Is Harry going to be happy here?”

“I hope so,” Severus said. “But it might take some time. He’s had a pretty rough life so far. He doesn’t know what a real family should be like.”

“We have to show him.”

“Exactly. Now, go eat your dinner. I think an early night will do us all some good.”

Iris slid over to her own chair and began eating her dinner, Severus doing the same. He spotted the picture of James and Lily he had given Harry earlier, and his thoughts strayed. He wondered if Harry would ever be able to see through Petunia’s lies. Sometimes, he wanted Harry to see the truth, but for the most part, he didn’t want to see Harry break from such an emotional trauma. He couldn’t have it both ways, and if he was to convince Harry that he was going to stay, something had to be done about Petunia.

Fate really was against him lately.


	5. Regrets

Severus stirred in his sleep as he felt a hand gently touch his shoulder. He blinked his eyes open to see Harry hovering over his bed. Groaning, he glanced at the clock on his nightstand. It was a quarter to six in the morning, what on earth was the child doing up?

“You said to let you know when I’m up and ask you if I can make breakfast.” Harry said.

Severus groaned again and sat up on his bed and rubbed his face. He had said those words, hadn’t he? He should have known how that would have backfired on him. He would really have to watch how he worded his rules around Harry.

“It’s Saturday,” Severus said. “Why are you up so early?”

“I have to get up early to make a full breakfast,” Harry said.

“For who?”

“Uncle Vernon likes a full breakfast on the weekends. So I have to get up early in order to make everything so its ready when he wakes up. Can you come help me?”

“Your uncle isn’t here,” Severus reminded.

“Oh yeah,” Harry said thoughtfully. “I can make it for you.”

“I haven’t eaten a full breakfast in years. I don’t even think I could. Could you?”

“No. Aunt Petunia says a bite of scrambled eggs, a half a tomato, and a full glass of milk will keep me going all day.”

“Of course, she did.” Severus yawned and leaned back against his pillows. He closed his eyes. “Why don’t you try going back to bed for a bit longer, hmm?”

“I can’t,” Harry said, grabbing Severus’s arm and pulling in a weak attempt to get Severus out of the bed. “It’s morning. I have to make breakfast now. Do you have beans, sausage, mushrooms, black pudding . . .?”

“I don’t even like black pudding,” Severus admitted. He pulled his arm free of Harry’s grasp, then picked up the child and settled him on the bed at his side, wrapping an arm him and covering them both with his blanket. Harry frowned, then looked up at Severus.

“What do you like?” he asked.

“Now you ask me?” Severus smirked. He ran a hand through Harry’s hair as he hummed in thought. “I like to sleep in on my days off. I like freshly brewed coffee first thing in the morning. I like for my kids to get enough sleep.”

“I slept enough,” Harry said as he yawned.

“That will be the last time you go to bed early,” Severus decided. He gently pushed Harry’s head down against his shoulder, encouraging him to lie down. “Why don’t we try relaxing for another hour or two?”

“What about breakfast?”

“We can make something later. I highly doubt you’re starving right now. Are you?”

Harry shook his head.

“Good. Then it can wait. Besides, I prefer something much lighter in the mornings. What about a yogurt parfait instead of a heavy meal, with lots of fruits and nuts added? Maybe some whipped cream on top?”

“I’ve never had a yogurt parfait. How do I make it?”

“I’ll show you. After a little more sleep.” Severus removed Harry’s glasses and set them on his stand. He patted Harry’s back. “And new rule: wait for me to come get you to help with breakfast, okay? If you wake up first, stay in your bed.”

“Okay,” Harry said. He snuggled against Severus’s side, staring off at the side wall for a moment while he fiddled with a loose thread on the blanket. “Aunt Petunia does this with Dudley sometimes.”

“Does she?”

“Yeah,” Harry confirmed. He yawned again and rubbed his eyes. “I like it.”

Severus couldn’t help the smile that broke across his face. That had to count as some points in favor over “Aunt Petunia.” He genuinely hoped that Harry slowly came to understand that the way Petunia treated her son was how she should have treated Harry all along. After a few minutes, Severus felt Harry become deadweight against his side and he opened his eyes and glanced down. It had not taken Harry long to fall asleep. Severus wondered how long Harry’s internal clock would continue going off. He could not do these early mornings seven days a week.

Severus rubbed Harry’s back as he closed his eyes again.

After managing to get in a couple more hours of sleep, Severus helped Harry and Iris make their own yogurt parfaits, which ended up in a bigger mess than he would have liked, but at least his kids were laughing and having fun so early in the morning. The whipped cream all over his kitchen was cleaned with a swish of his wand.

* * *

Later that morning, Severus’s lawyer stopped by to see Harry and discuss the case. Warner Wallace, a middle-aged dark-haired man, had helped Severus during Iris’s custody battle, and he trusted the man with all matters pertaining to muggle law. Wallace arrived in a casual suit carrying a briefcase. Severus invited him to his living room and offered tea while Wallace pulled out several files.

“How is Harry doing?” Wallace asked.

“As well as he can after everything he’s been through,” Severus responded as he finished pouring a tea and handed it to Wallace, who thanked him and set it on the stand next to the chair he was sitting in. “I am trying to get his untreated asthma under control as well as keep him in my sight. He’s still struggling with the idea of his relatives in prison and that I am now his primary guardian.”

“Did you tell him you were his father?” Wallace asked. He pulled out a paper and reviewed it. “I see the DNA results came back. You can take that to court anytime to change his birth certificate by the way. Strange how quickly they came in.”

Severus nodded, though he knew there was never any DNA test performed. He had brewed a potion and used a strand of his and Harry’s hair in it to prove their relationship, then turned the results into a muggle replica. That was why they were in so quickly as he wanted to move along the change in custody as quickly and smoothly as possible.

“I have told him,” Severus said. “Although I’m not sure the impact of doing so as settled in with him yet.”

“Does he talk about what happened at his relatives?”

“Occasionally, but never in a bad light to be honest.”

“May I see him?” Wallace asked, glancing around.

Severus stood from his chair and moved to the staircase. Last he knew the two kids were getting dressed for the day, but he wasn’t sure what they were getting up to now.

“Harry,” he called. “Come down here for a moment.”

Harry appeared at the top stair, and Severus motioned him down. Severus directed him to the living room.

“Harry,” Severus said as he sat back in his chair, standing Harry in front of him, “this is Mister Wallace. He’s going to ask you some questions. I would like you to answer honestly, okay?”

“Hi, Mister Wallace,” Harry said.

“Please.” Wallace waved off the formal greeting. “My name is Warner. And you must be Harry. How are you, today, Harry?”

“I’m good,” Harry answered, leaning back against Severus’s knees.

“Brilliant. Do you mind telling me about what living at your relatives was like?”

“It was okay.”

“Was it? Where did you sleep at night?”

“In my cupboard.”

“Your cupboard? Was that also your bedroom?”

“Yeah,” Harry nodded. He smiled as he said, “I even wrote my name on the wall.”

Wallace flipped through his papers before pulling out a picture.

“That’s your name, isn’t it? You wrote that?’

Harry took the picture and nodded. Severus looked over Harry’s shoulder at the police photograph of the cupboard where Harry allegedly slept. It was the first time he was seeing it, and it was a small area where food or cleaning supplies would preferably be stored. Instead, there was a small, thin mattress shoved inside, a light blue blanket disheveled on top. Scribbled on the wall above the mattress was “Harry’s Room.” On a shelf were five little army men and a small teddy bear that Severus recognized Lily giving to Harry when he was a baby. It sickened Severus to see how small it was and how crappy the mattress was that Harry slept on. He held his tongue while Harry spoke about it.

“Aunt Petunia wasn’t happy I wrote on the wall. But she didn’t make me clean it off.” Harry pointed at the shelf. “That’s where I get to keep some of Dudley’s old toys he doesn’t want anymore. There’s my teddy bear! Aunt Petunia said my mum gave it to me. It’s still there, right?”

“It is.” Wallace said. “I’ll make sure to grab it for you the next time I’m there. Did you have any toys of your own or were they all Dudley’s old toys.”

“Only good boys get toys.”

“You weren’t a good boy?”

“No. I make freaky things happen. So I only get old toys.”

“Freaky things?”

“Or magic things?” Harry looked back at Severus for confirmation. “That’s what you said right? And muggles don’t understand it.”

“Right,” Severus agreed as he discreetly cast a gentle obliviate charm on Wallace, erasing the memory of the last question asked. He softly muttered in Harry’s ear, “Let’s leave out the magic part, okay? Mister Wallace is a muggle, so he’s not going to understand it either.”

“Oh,” Harry said, staring back at Wallace, who was blinking and frowning at his papers. “Sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Severus said. He scolded himself internally for not preparing Harry for this meeting. He didn’t mean to confuse Harry now, but they were already into the questions that would be brought back up at the trial. “We’ll talk about it later.”

“I’m sorry,” Wallace said, shaking his head. “Where were we?”

“Discussing Harry’s cupboard,” Severus answered. “Were you punished in that cupboard?”

“Sometimes,” Harry said. He looked back and forth at Severus and Wallace, now unsure about what he was supposed to say.

“For how long?”

“I don’t know. Sometimes a couple days. Maybe longer.”

“Were you locked in the cupboard?” Wallace asked as he started writing on his paper again, quickly falling back into routine.

“Only when I was being punished.”

And the questions went on. Wallace moved off the subject of Harry’s cupboard and on to what his daily activities included, and Severus was amazed at how much Petunia taught Harry to do, even if in spite. Harry talked about gardening, cooking, and all the things he could clean, his untreated asthma was briefly brought up, then the chimney sweeping. They lingered on the chimney topic for a while, and Harry explained in detail how he got up into the floo. Severus made a point of asking about bathing afterward, and Harry explained he was only allowed ten minutes or less to clean up.

“I think we’ve covered the majority of what we need,” Wallace finally said, collecting back his evidence and papers that Severus had been looking at. Wallace gave Severus a critical look. “And you found no evidence of physical abuse.”

“None,” Severus said. “But that doesn’t mean it didn’t exist.”

“Yes, but from the boy’s mouth thus far, it sounds like there was more emotional abuse and abandonment rather than physical abuse. I’d like to narrow down what cross examination can cover so there’s no surprises on stand. It might do you some good to practice a little with him so he’s ready for that. And in case he brings up anything else.”

“Of course. And by abandonment, do you mean . . .”

“Neglect and placing a child in imminent danger both fall under abandonment, specifically when there is no intervention on the latter.”

“What are all these questions for?” Harry asked.

“They are to help us understand what happened at your relatives,” Wallace said. “We need to know everything so we can punish your relatives appropriately.”

“I don’t want them punished because of me,” Harry said. “When do I get to see Aunt Petunia.”

Wallace shared a look with Severus.

“Well,” Wallace said, watching Severus’s reaction closely, “I spoke with her lawyer and I think Wednesday afternoon would work best. Is that agreeable with you, Severus?”

“I have no classes that afternoon, so I should be able to take him. Harry, why don’t you go play in your room for a minute?”

Severus gave Harry an encouraging push toward the stairs and Harry slowly shuffled away.

“Poor kid.” Wallace shook his head and took a sip of his tea. “He really has no clue, does he?”

“Not at all. I’m trying to help him understand the seriousness of this, but I don’t think it’s clicking.”

“This visit with Petunia Dursley will hopefully make a breakthrough for you.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of. He’ll be so crushed.”

“But you’ll be there for him. That’s what counts. And there’s always counseling if you feel he needs it.”

“Thank you for what you are doing. Do you believe there is a chance Petunia might put on an act?”

“She’s looking at up to twenty-five years, but fifteen regardless of the outcome of the trial. Sending a child up a chimney even once is incriminating. And Harry confessed to doing so several times and we have a picture of him covered in soot and Dudley’s words as well. The child was quite intimidated by the officers when they questioned him away from his parents.” Wallace packed everything away in his suitcase and stood up. Severus followed his lead. “She has no reason to keep up the act. I have high hopes that she will be . . . brutally honest when she sees Harry.”

Severus felt a heavy weight on his chest at that, but he knew Petunia’s visit was crucial before the trial. Harry needed to realize he was wanted elsewhere. Severus walked Wallace out, shaking hands with him and bidding farewell. He sent the tea dishes to the sink to self-wash while he retreated to his study to finish the grading that was interrupted by Harry’s chimney escape yesterday.

He had just sat down behind his desk when Harry appeared in the study doorway.

* * *

“What is it, Harry?” Severus asked.

Harry glanced at the owl that was sleeping in its cage, then stared at Severus from the door frame.

‘You may come in,” Severus encouraged.

Harry shuffled into the room. He leaned against Severus’s desk.

“What am I supposed to do?” Harry asked. “I’m bored.”

“I’d say homework if you’re that bored, but unfortunately, you’re not in school yet. What do you want to do?”

“I could clean,” Harry said.

“That doesn’t sound like something you want to do.”

“But I’m good at it.”

“I’m sure you are.”

“What would you like me to clean?”

“Your room if you need to.” Severus answered easily.

Harry shook his head and Severus shrugged.

“Then I guess there’s nothing for you to clean right now.”

Harry watched Severus mark up an essay in red ink for a few silent seconds before asking, “Can I go outside?”

Severus paused in his work as he eyed Harry.

“I really do not want you outside without me, and right now, I need to finish grading these essays. Why don’t you go see what Iris is up to, hmm? Maybe she’ll let you play some games with her.”

“Okay,” Harry said. Glad to have something to do, he walked out of the study and headed for Iris’s bedroom. There, he found Iris braiding the hair on one of her dolls. Her own red hair was braided to the side and she was wearing a sparkly pink dress over her jeans and had a tiara on her head.

“What are you doing?” Harry asked.

“We’re going to have a tea party,” Iris said, gesturing to her many toys sitting in chairs around a little table. “Why?”

“I’m supposed to come play with you.”

“You’re supposed to?” Iris raised a brow at that in a similar manner Severus would. “Or do you want to?”

Harry shrugged.

“Do you want to join my tea party?” Iris asked excitedly. “I could make you a prince.”

It didn’t sound so bad. Harry had never been to a tea party. And a prince sounded cool. He nodded, and Iris’s smile grew as she jumped over to a desk with a large mirror centerpiece.

“Okay, sit here.” Iris pointed at the chair in front of a vanity desk. Harry sat down and waited patiently. Iris grabbed a crown from her closet and plopped it on Harry’s head. Then she grabbed something off her desk and uncapped it.

“Is that lipstick?” Harry asked, pulling his head back when she reached for him.

“No, it’s chapstick,” Iris corrected.

“It’s pink.”

“Just a little bit.”

Harry sighed but relented as Iris applied the chapstick to his lips. It was just a slight pink that remained on his lips. That was tolerable. He watched Iris closely as she grabbed some kind of powder and a brush this time.

“What’s that?”

“It’s just to make you look tanner. You’re paler than dad.”

“No, I’m not,” Harry protested, but Iris was already applying the bronzer in as good as a job as a six-year-old could do.

“All princes wear a little make-up. It’s formal. Hold still, I’m almost done.”

“I’m not a real prince,” Harry said. “Why do I have to wear it?”

“To make it more believable. You know, Dad doesn’t argue this much.”

Iris picked up a different powder this time. She dabbed a new brush in it and began rubbing it over Harry’s cheek. He gasped at himself in the mirror at what she was doing. His cheek was turning pink. He yanked his head away.

“Stop it!” Harry said.

“Princes have rosy cheeks.”

“No, they don’t! I don’t want rosy cheeks,” Harry said, pushing away in the chair and jumping out of the seat. He stomped out of the room, throwing the crown off his head.

“Harry!” Iris called after him.

Harry tried rubbing the horrible stuff off his face as he rushed down the stairs and back to Severus’s study. He pouted as he walked up to Severus’s desk, frowning up at the man. Severus glanced up at him. A smile threatened his face and he choked and coughed into his hands to cover up the laughter that tried to escape.

“It’s not funny,” Harry glared.

“I know, I know,” Severus said. He summoned a washcloth and used his wand to spray it down with a cleanser. “Come here, I’ll clean it off. I guess I should have seen that coming.”

Harry allowed Severus to wipe the make-up off his face. Iris ran in a second later and pointed an accusatory finger at Harry.

“Dad, he won’t be my prince,” she said.

“I don’t want to wear this stuff,” Harry complained before closing his mouth as Severus wiped the chapstick away.

“Iris,” Severus said, “can’t he be a prince without the make over?”

“No, he has to look like a prince.”

“How about a knight?”

“I don’t want a knight at my tea party.”

Severus tossed the washcloth on his desk and gently grasped Harry’s chin and tilted his head this way and that to look him over once more. He summoned a handheld mirror for Harry, who was relieved to see his face back to normal. Severus looked over at his sulking daughter, then at the stack of unfinished essays. He sighed. At this rate he’d be working until midnight.

“You know what?” Severus said, smiling at both kids. “I think I know what Harry might like to dress as.”

“What?” Iris and Harry asked.

With a little magic and imagination, Severus managed to transfigure a green blanket into a dragon costume for Harry. And like that, Iris and Harry were chasing each other around the house, Iris screaming playfully as she tried to escape the evil dragon. Severus returned to his desk to finish his grading, casting a muffling charm around his study to help him focus on his work. He managed to finish a few more essays before Iris and Harry ran into his study, laughing, roaring, and running around his desk as Iris tried to avoid Harry.

“Hey, not the place, you two,” Severus scolded after canceling the muffling charm.

The owl hooted in alarm, ruffling his feathers as he stepped out of his cage and on to the bird stand, hopping along it toward Severus.

Harry stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of the large bird, the hood of his dragon costume falling off. Iris paused on the other side of Severus’s desk, smiling and waiting. Severus noticed Harry’s wide eyes and held his arm out to the owl, who jumped from the perch to Severus’s arm. Harry backed up several steps away from the sharp beak and talons.

“I’ve told you before.” Severus stroked the bird gently. “He won’t hurt you.”

“Mr. Cuddlywuddlytums?” Iris asked. She ran around the desk and wrapped her arms around the large bird. She pulled him off her father’s arm and squeezed lovingly, earning several cries of protest. “He wouldn’t hurt a fly. He’s the cutest, cuddliest bird ever!”

Severus sighed and shook his head as Iris tortured the familiar, who begrudgingly accepted his fate.

“Unfortunately,” Severus began, turning his attention back to Harry, “this is what happens when you let the kid name the pet.”

“You said it was a good name,” Iris said, glaring at her father, still clinging to the bird.

“You were three,” Severus defended himself. “He was as big as you were, and you still strangled him.”

“I don’t,” Iris said, finally letting the bird go. He flapped up to his perch and shook himself out indignantly. “He loves me.”

“Mmhmm,” Severus agreed. “I should have brought home a kitten.” Severus held his hand out to Harry. “I call him Tum. You’re more than welcome to do the same.”

Harry was shocked that Iris had grabbed and hugged the bird as if it were one of her stuffed animals. The noises it made were intimidating but now it was grooming itself on the stand. Harry put his dragon hood back up and accepted Severus’s hand, allowing himself to be pulled closer. With Iris at one side and Severus at his other, Harry reached a hand out to the owl and waited.

Tum tilted his head at Harry and narrowed his eyes at the boy’s hand. With a huff, Tum lowered his head and pushed his beak into Harry’s hand. Harry’s face lit up as he smiled big and gently stroked the beak. Severus pulled Harry’s hood down and ruffled his hair.

“See?” Severus smiled. “He won’t hurt you. Now, let’s get you two settled into a quieter game. I still need to finish these essays, you know.”

“Finish them, tomorrow,” Iris said. She grabbed her father’s arm and jumped up and down. “Come play with us. You can rescue me from the dragon.”

“Like you need rescuing,” Severus said. “I think we need to have lunch and then some quiet time.”

Severus brought the kids to the kitchen. They resumed their game—Harry chasing Iris—while Severus pulled out the left-over fish and chips from last evening. He warmed the food up for Harry, and when iris showed interest in eating leftovers, he warmed up more for her. Although Harry only nibbled at the food, Severus wasn’t too concerned since Harry was drinking the nutrition potion with little argument. At least he drank all the orange juice.

The warm meal made two kids very sleepy, and Severus took advantage of the moment to read them a story. He set up on the couch with Harry and Iris either side of him and he read the tale of Babbitty Rabbitty from The Tales of Beedle the Bard. It did not take long until both kids were asleep at his side. With practiced ease, Severus slithered his way out from between them and carefully lowered their heads down on pillows he summoned from their bedrooms. He draped small blankets over each kid then stepped back to smile at them.

A huge wave of guilt drowned him as he watched Harry’s chest rise and fall. Seeing his kids together playing and laughing made him think of what could have been if he had simply taken Harry in as his son all those years ago. He was figuring out how to manage with two kids, he could have done the same when they were toddlers. Yes, Iris had had her moments in her terrible twos and terrorizing threes, but there were more great and wonderful days with her than bad. He could have added Harry into the mix of it all. Maybe it would have helped his grief over Lily’s loss that much sooner.

Instead, he had been so afraid of losing both kids he willingly gave one up at Albus’s advice. And here he was now. He had allowed his child to enter an abusive home, and not once did he think to check up on him or start the visits up again. He had been so sure it would have been easier if Harry never knew of their relationship. And Albus had been so reassuring every time he dropped off a new picture of Harry that Petunia would collect for Albus, as per their deal. He should have done more. He should have done so much more for his son. At the very least, he should have been there.

There was no changing the past. All he could do now was give Harry the best future he could. Severus turned away from the couch and headed back to his study to finish as much grading as he could before they woke up. He had never seen Iris so happy to have a playmate. Harry was so relaxed around Iris, and she helped him open up more. With time, he was sure Harry would find his spirit again and feel more comfortable to take control of the world around him like Princess Iris did. He smiled softly at the thought.


	6. My Little Boy

It had been a bright, sunny August afternoon six years’ earlier. The new house was having its last coat of light turquoise paint applied while other workers continued unloading the new furniture off the moving truck, as well as the few straggling boxes that remained. Severus moved between helping to relocate several boxes as well as manage where the workers put down his furniture all the while trying to stay out of the way of the ongoing remodeling in the bathrooms, kitchen, and master bedroom. The crew had just taken down a wall that hid the kitchen from the living room and dining room, and the open concept he had envisioned was coming together nicely.

He had managed to snag this beauty off the market a few days earlier, and with the raise he had recently earned at Hogwarts, his budget for turning the old country home into a modern, functional living space had nearly doubled, and he took advantage of it to add in a few personal touches—such as his en-suite and a place he could turn into a study.

As he spoke with his contractor on updating the central heating system in the house and the costs it would entail, his front doorbell rang. Surprised it even worked, Severus excused himself and opened the door.

“Hi, Severus!” Lily greeted with a huge smile. She held a green bundle in her arms. James stood behind her and eyed the mess in the house. Severus welcomed them in, and Lily wowed at everything. “It’s really coming together, don’t you think so, James?”

“I think it’s perfect just the way it is,” James smirked.

“You two shouldn’t be here,” Severus said. “Remember, you’re being hunted.”

“Sirius is outside with the bike,” James said. “We’ll be quick so you can get back to turning this place into your batcave.”

Severus rolled his eyes before he stared at the bundle Lily was carrying. Lily noticed, and she walked over to Severus and held out the bundle to him.

“Meet Harry James Potter,” Lily said.

Severus cautiously accepted the baby swaddled in a blanket. As he stared down at the angelic face, Harry’s eyes blinked open, revealing a splash of green. An enormous warmth of affection swelled in his chest and he felt an instinctive urge to protect and love this little bundle.

“He has your eyes,” Severus remarked.

“Yes,” Lily agreed, “and your everything else.”

“Don’t worry,” James said as he stepped closer and smiled at the baby. “We’ll fix all that with the blood adoption.”

Severus scoffed at that.

“You’ll ruin his good looks,” he said, holding the baby up more and smiling as Harry continued to blink up at him. “You’ll give him your awful eyesight.”

“I will not! He’ll have my amazing quidditch talents.”

“That’s not even a gene.”

“Boys,” Lily scolded playfully.

“He’s beautiful, Lily.” Severus carefully kissed the baby on the top of his head.

“I’m sorry you couldn’t be there for his birth,” Lily said.

“Dahlia was having complications,” Severus said, rocking slightly as Harry slowly grew fussier in his blanket. “Tachycardic, short of breath, but her anxiety has been through the roof lately. Doctors have a feeling that may have something to do with it.”

“I know that feeling,” Lily said. “She’s due this month now, isn’t she?”

“August twenty-fifth is the date.” Severus handed Harry back to Lily when the baby began crying.

“He’s probably hungry,” Lily said as she grabbed a blanket out of her bag and walked over to an armchair. As she settled down with Harry, she looked at Severus and asked, “Do you know if it’s a girl or boy?”

“It’s a girl,” Severus answered, crossing his arms. “We wanted it to be a surprise, but little missy had other ideas during her ultrasound visits.”

“Same here.” Lily grinned at Harry.

“He was showing everything off,” James said, standing behind Lily’s chair and leaning over it. “Weren’t you, buddy?”

“We get to be her aunt and uncle, right?” Lily asked. “I would love a niece to spoil.”

“I’m sure she’ll be spoiled enough between the two of us,” Severus said. “But seeing how I’m Harry’s godfather, I suppose it would be fair to make you both godparents.”

“That would be great,” James said, and Lily nodded.

Severus was lost in his reverie as he stared at the picture of a baby Harry on Lily’s chest. He stared off at a random spot on the wall in his study. How he missed her and her vibrant smiles and caring nature. And then came the awful news that James and Lily had been murdered. Prior to Harry’s birth, a spy in the Order had overheard a prophesy and reported it to Voldemort. Severus had been acquainted with a few members of the Dark Lord’s followers and had managed to get Voldemort’s next plan of action out of them and he quickly reported to Albus Dumbledore what he had learned.

For the next several months, the Order worked to keep the Potters hidden from public eye and Voldemort. Alas, it wasn’t enough, and Severus had been devastated to hear of their murders. Just prior, Dahlia had vanished on him and Iris for several days without a word before reappearing and wanting to go out as a family to some formal party. It had been the straw that broke the camel’s back, and he ended their relationship then and there. And then Albus had inquired about him taking in Harry, and he knew he just couldn’t.

Or at least, he thought he wouldn’t have been able to. Why Albus hadn’t pushed for him to take Harry baffled him. Yes, he had quickly agreed to send Harry away to relatives, but clearly, he had not been in a good state of mind. Albus should have tried again a few days later or . . . something.

Severus closed his eyes with a sigh. He should have done something. He should have gone after Harry when he came to his senses. Instead, he believed Harry was in a better place and left it at that, accepting a life where his son knew nothing about him. What had he been thinking?

Severus was pulled from his thoughts when a hand touched his arm.

“Mister,” Harry said to him, staring up at him with half awake eyes. The child yawned and rubbed his eyes under his glasses as he gently tapped Severus’s arm again. “Mister.”

Severus set the picture down and turned toward Harry, leaning in his chair slightly.

“Mister, hmm?” Severus asked.

“I forgot your name,” Harry said honestly.

“I’m your father, you can’t think of a name yourself?”

“You didn’t tell me I could call you Daddy,” Harry stated with a yawn.

Severus felt the same warmth of affection swell in his chest that he felt when he first saw Harry all those years ago. He brushed a lock of hair behind Harry’s ear.

“I didn’t realize you needed permission for that,” Severus said. “You may call me whatever you feel comfortable with. My name is Severus.”

“That’s a strange name,” Harry said.

“So, I’ve been told.”

“Daddy is easier.”

“I suppose it is.” Severus chuckled. He picked Harry up and settled him on his lap. “What did you need, Harry?”

Harry rested his head against Severus’s chest comfortably, his eyes blinking blearily as he said, “I’m supposed to help make dinner soon.”

“I think that would be acceptable. Did you have something in mind?”

Harry shook his head.

“No? Well tomorrow, we’re going to have Sunday roast, so I was thinking something easy for tonight, like carbonara.”

“How do I make that?”

“How do you make it? Do you even know what it is?”

Harry shook his head.

“I will show you when we make dinner. Iris likes it with a little butternut squash and pancetta. Do you know if Iris is awake?”

“No, she’s still sleeping on the couch,” Harry said. His lower lip quivered. “Aunt Petunia will be mad that I feel asleep.”

“You were tired. She’ll understand.”

“I never sleep during the day before. She’ll be mad and I’ll have to go in my cupboard.”

“She’s not here,” Severus reiterated, shushing Harry. “You’re with me now; no one is mad, and there’s no cupboard to lock you in. Iris slept, too. You were both tired, it’s to be expected.” Severus rubbed Harry’s back comfortingly while Harry yawned again. He figured this was Harry’s first nap in quite a long time, so the child was still feeling the grogginess of having slept during the day. Severus rocked Harry for a moment, feeling the child’s breathing even out, and he was sure Harry was falling back to sleep. However, the nap had lasted two hours, and he wanted to get both kids up or they would never go to sleep at a decent hour that night.

“Okay, honey,” Severus said as he patted Harry’s back. He pulled the boy away from him and set him back down on his feet. “Let’s get moving so we wake up more, hmm?”

Severus stood up and ushered Harry out of his study. He was glad to have gotten a third of his work down with the two down for a nap. He had allowed himself to get distracted by Harry’s situation again, but there was so much he still needed to talk to Harry about. And the upcoming trial was one of them. He wished they could just get it over with now and be done with it. There was nothing he could do now but wait and prepare Harry as much as he could.

He led Harry back to the living room. He gently woke Iris and took both kids upstairs to the small library and playroom between Harry’s and Iris’s rooms. Iris jumped in the large armchair and waited patiently while Severus scanned the bookshelf. He grabbed a Dr. Suess book, _One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish_ , and walked over to the armchair. He lifted Iris and set her on his lap when he sat down in the armchair. Harry lingered at the side, watching his fingers as he intertwined them together.

“Come on, Harry,” Severus encouraged, waving to Harry to come closer. When Harry did so, Severus pulled him on his other lap. “On the weekends, Iris and I try to read together to practice her words. You’re welcome to join in if you recognize any of the words.”

Harry shrugged as he looked down at the book.

“Iris, would you like to start?”

Iris pulled the book closer to her side of the chair and read the first couple pages proudly.

“One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish . . .” she began.

Severus watched closely, but this was one of the easier books he knew Iris could read most of the book with few stumbles. He glanced at Harry, who seemed interested in the pictures, but he stayed quiet while Iris continued flipping the pages.

“Harry,” Severus interrupted. “Do you want to read any pages?”

Harry shrugged.

“Do you want to try a page or so?” Severus said, adjusting the book so Harry could see both pages clearly. When all Harry did was stare at the page for a minute, Severus tried to engage with him a bit more. He pointed at the sentence that read, “Some are fast. Some are slow.”

“Let start here,” Severus said. “Do you know what this says?”

Harry stretched his arms up then shook his head.

“No? Can you sound it out? What letter is this?”

Harry shrugged, turning his head away from the pages and looking around the room instead.

“Harry, you have to look at the words. Can you at least try? Can you tell me what letters these are?”

“No.” Harry finally said.

“No, you don’t want to try? Or no, you don’t know?”

“No.” Harry repeated.

Severus tried not to grow frustrated. While he raised Iris with a love of reading, he knew not all children cared to read, or read at the same level as the next child. But Harry’s lack of attempt, especially for someone who was so eager to please and obey, was concerning for Severus. Harry had seemed interested in the book before he pushed him to try to read it. A thought struck him: did Harry even know how to read?

“Some are fast,” Iris read, breaking the silence. “Some are slow.”

“Iris,” Severus scolded lightly.   
“What?” she asked. “He wasn’t reading it.”

Harry said nothing, only stared at the pages once more.

“Okay,” Severus said, patting Harry’s back reassuringly. “Go on, Iris.”

Iris kept reading the rest of the book without interruption, only stumbling, and needing help twice. Harry remained quiet, though he watched the pages turn and smiled at the silly pictures. Iris finished the book, then smiled up at her father as she closed the book.

“Very good, Iris,” he praised, running a hand through her hair. “Would you like to read another one?”

“No. Can we go to the park?” Iris asked.

“That sounds like a nice idea. Go get your shoes on and wait for me downstairs.”

Iris slid off her father’s lap and ran for her room. Harry copied her, but before he could run off as well, Severus gently grabbed his upper arm.

“Hold up, son,” Severus said. He pulled Harry back to him, standing him in between his knees. “I think you and I are overdue for a talk.”

“About what?” Harry asked.

“A couple things,” Severus said. “First, I’d like you to be honest with me. Do you know your alphabet?”

“Abcdefg,” Harry started.

“Good, good,” Severus said. He summoned a pack of old cards he had used with Iris when she was a toddler. He held up a card that had a large letter R on it. “Do you know what letter this is?”

“R?” Harry asked.

“Yes, good.” Severus flipped through the cards. He held up a J. “How about this one?”

Harry shrugged. Severus shuffled through them again until he landed on S. Harry shrugged again. Severus set the cards aside and summoned a quill and parchment. He scribbled something down before showing Harry.

“Do you know what this says?”

“That’s my name!” Harry said. “Harry.”

“How about this?” Severus wrote next to the name before showing it to Harry again. Harry stared at it before shrugging. Severus had written on the parchment: Harry is a good boy. After a moment, Severus wrote a few more words down in a random order.

“Do you know any of these words?”

“Harry.” Harry pointed at his first name again.

“That is your first name, yes. Do you know the other words?”

Harry stared at the parchment.

“School,” he pointed out. “Hello.”

“Good. Any others?”

“That one looks like . . .” Harry trailed off, his finger pointing at the word he was staring at.

“What’s it look like?” Severus encouraged. “Can you sound it out? The first letter is a d.”

“Daddy?” Harry tried.

“It is. Good job. Any others?”

Harry stared at the words on the parchment for a few long seconds before shrugging.

“Are you sure?” Severus looked down at the parchment. He had written: Harry James Potter, mummy, daddy, aunt, uncle, Petunia Dursley, hello, goodbye, school, chimney, garden, cook, dog, cat, and house. What really saddened him was Harry did not recognize his full name.

“No.” Harry decided. He shuffled his feet. “Is that all you want to talk about?”

“Don’t take off on me yet.” Severus put everything aside, then gave all his attention to Harry. “One thing we need to talk about is magic.”

“What about it?”

“You know that magic is real, correct?”

Harry nodded.

“But some people do not, and those people do not have magic. They are called muggles, and we cannot tell muggles about magic or that it exists.”

“Why?”

“Well . . .” Severus paused, wondering how he could explain this in the simplest terms. With Iris growing up around it and in its secrecy, it was easy for her to accept that magic was something not to be talked abut with other people unless she was at Hogwarts. “For most muggles, it is a scary idea that we could have magic and they do not. They do not understand it, and it makes them . . . afraid of us. And then they don’t want to be near us. Do you understand?”

Harry nodded. “So I can’t tell anyone?”

“Not unless you have my permission,” Severus said. “But those will be rare times. Otherwise, if I’m not around to ask, assume the answer is no.”

“Like with Mr. Wallace?” Harry asked.

“Yes. Like with Mr. Wallace.”

“But not the doctor.”

“Doctor Villin is a wizard, so he knows about magic and uses it all the time just like we do.”

“I don’t use it.”

“That’s because you’re a kid with an underdeveloped core. When you turn eleven, you will attend a magic school that will teach you how to control your magic.”

“Really?”

“Yes. And it’s a school I happen to teach at.”

“You’ll be my daddy and my teacher?”

“I’ll be everything you need me to be,” Severus said, pulling his son into a quick hug, giving him a kiss on his temple. Severus had wanted to also bring up the trial and how he would go up on stand to talk about how he lived at his relatives, but right now, he just didn’t feel up to that conversation. Maybe it would be best to not mention Petunia or Vernon right now, not that he heard Harry talk much about his uncle. Severus sighed into Harry’s hair. He would have to bring it up sooner rather than later. Especially with the trial just ten days away, and Harry’s visit with Petunia lingering in the upcoming week. He dreaded how it would turn out. Whether she disowned him or not, either way, Harry would be an emotional wreck.

“Daddy,” Harry said.

“What is it, honey?”

“You’re crushing me,” Harry said.

Severus chuckled and released his son.

“Go find your shoes and put them on. We’ll go to the park for an hour or two.”

When both kids were ready to head to the park, Severus drove them down toward the city and to the schoolgrounds, where a public park also existed. He freed his kids from their car seats, but before they ran off, he reminded them of the rules he had at the park: to stay within his sight, no talking to strangers, and of course, no leaving the park. The two kids chased each other to the playground.

He sat down at a park bench and watched his kids. His brain struggled with the fact that Harry could not read. He recognized a few words he had most likely seen enough, and he probably learned his name from teachers at school, but that was as far as that went. He would have to get his son’s previous school records and grades. It would be a lot of work teaching Harry to read at a level appropriate for his age, and he wondered if a tutor wouldn’t be a bad idea. Or if Addie had a few tricks up her sleeve.

Iris and Harry ran over to the swing sets and Severus stood up to go push them both on the swings. He was surprised when Iris sat, and Harry gave her a push on the swing. He smiled as he watched the two for a minute, taking his time to stroll over to his kids. 

“Would you like a turn, Harry?” he asked.

“I don’t know how to swing,” Harry answered.

“It’s easy,” Severus said, setting Harry down on the seat next to Iris. “Copy your sister.”

Iris smiled at Harry as she kicked back and forth, making the swing go higher and higher. Severus gave Harry a small push, and Harry tried to do what Iris was doing. It didn’t take Harry long to find a rhythm and soon, Severus was pushing both kids on the swings. In that moment, Severus felt that no matter what, they would pull through all right.

Later that evening, Severus helped Harry make a carbonara. Iris opted out of helping with dinner, choosing her dolls over helping to cook. Severus did not mind having Harry in the kitchen with him, though he did hope that Harry found an activity or hobby he enjoyed more than housework and cooking. Still, he was impressed with Harry’s ability to prepare ingredients and his accuracy at measuring, even when he cut some of the ingredients in half. So, what he lacked in reading skills he made up for in math and homelife skills. When the food was ready, he sent Harry off to set the table.

“All done, Daddy,” Harry said, smiling up at him.

“Thank you,” Severus said. “Go let Iris know dinner is ready.”

Harry took off and Severus plated the food for everyone, giving Harry a small amount, and poured drinks. He pushed Harry’s drink back and set his nutrition potion closer to his plate so Harry would take it first. And Harry did so with no problems.

Dinner was a quiet affair as the two kids ate their food hungrily. Harry had managed to eat half of the food on his plate, and even though Severus didn’t give him much to begin with, it was the most he had seen Harry eat since the child had arrived. Severus allowed his kids to play or do something quiet after dinner while he finished up grading. That ended up with Harry seeking him out in search of something to do.

“What’s Iris doing?” Severus asked.

“She just wants to color and listen to the radio.”

“I see. You don’t like what she’s listening to?”

Harry shrugged. “I don’t want to color.”

“We need to get you some toys to play with,” Severus said, more to himself than to Harry. “What would you like to do?”

“Can you read to me?”

Severus was very surprised with Harry’s request. After their reading lesson earlier, he was sure Harry had no interest in going through another session like that again. However, it opened a book of opportunity. Severus had read all the time to Iris growing up until she took it upon herself to read the words. He wondered if the same technique might help Harry. If anything, it wouldn’t hurt. Still, he had to finish grading.

“I need to finish these essays, Harry,” Severus said. “I can read to you after. Why don’t you go pick out a book?”

Harry shrugged. He lingered in the doorway of the study.

Severus realized Harry would have no idea what the books were about unless he flipped through them and judged them by the pictures. He sighed and stared down at his essays. His eyes flickered from the essay he was grading to Harry and he opened his arms to the boy.

“Come here,” Severus said.

Harry did so, and Severus pulled him up in his lap.

“How about I read as I grade, hmm?” Severus asked.

Harry nodded.

“Aconite, a member of the buttercup family, is a highly toxic plat despite its use in potions for pain relief, sedation, and diuretics. The plant is known by many names, including monkshood and wolfsbane. It was once widespread, but due to advancements in agriculture, it can now only be found in wild, secluded places.”

Severus continued reading the essay aloud, pausing only now and then to mark a correction while explaining to Harry why the remark in the essay was wrong. He was surprised that Harry stayed with him until he finished the essay and moved on to the next. He was sure the topic would bore the child. He grabbed the next essay, and thankfully, it was a different year’s homework. The fifth years. This was the last group he had to grade, and he figured he could do so tomorrow. He sat back instead and focused on Harry.

“So, what did you think?”

“It was cool,” Harry said.

“Did you learn anything?”

“Aconite is a bad plant.”

“Toxic, not bad. It needs to be handles correctly and then it can be used for very good things. Like for pain relief.”

“Like your healing salve thing?”

“Exactly. There’s aconite in the salve that I used on you and Iris. It helped, didn’t it?”

“Yeah. My shoulder didn’t hurt anymore.”

Severus stared at Harry for a moment, his mind straying off the topic of what they had read.

“I want to show you something.”

Severus picked up his quill and pulled a scrap of parchment closer. He scribbled on it.

“Why do you write with feathers?” Harry asked.

“It’s called a quill,” Severus said. “Here, look at this.”

“That’s my name. Harry.”

“It is. But this says James. And this is Potter.”

“Potter is my last name,” Harry said.

“I know.” Severus tapped the page. “And James is your middle name. And this is what your name looks like.”

“Really? James like my other daddy?”

“Exactly. You’re named after him. Harry James Potter.”

Harry stared at the name written on the page.

“That’s what my name looks like?”

“Mmhmm.”

Harry stared some more.

“What does your name look like?”

Severus smiled, then wrote down his name under Harry’s.

“Severus Tobias Snape,” Severus read.

Harry stared at Severus’s name, looking back and forth between Severus’s and his names.

“What about Iris?”

“Iris Eileen-Louise Snape,” Severus read as he wrote Iris’s name on the parchment.

Harry frowned at that. He touched the ink, accidentally smearing “Snape.” Severus picked up a cloth on his desk and cleaned the small amount of ink off his finger.

“Careful,” he said. “It doesn’t dry like a pen does.”

“Why isn’t my last name Snape?” Harry pouted.

“James was your adopted father, remember? So you have his last name.”

Harry was quiet as he stared at the page.

“But I’m with you now. I want your last name too.”

“I think we can make that happen. Maybe we can hyphen your last name. Potter-Snape? Does that sound okay.”

Harry nodded as he rested his head on Severus’s shoulder.

“Do you think Aunt Petunia would like it?”

And there it was. The name he had been hoping to avoid all day. Severus sighed as he tightened his arms around Harry, resting his chin on top of Harry’s head. He still didn’t want to ruin this day by opening up that topic. So, knowing it would keep the peace between himself and Harry for now, Severus agreed.

“I think she would love it.”

Even if he knew she wouldn’t care either way. 


End file.
